Midnight Confessions
by Lizmun
Summary: [COMPLETE!] As Team 7's sensei, Kakashi has taken it upon himself to learn the backgrounds of his students, including that of their former sensei, Iruka.
1. 1 Silverhaired Shinobi

Wow... already with a second chapter! Who knew that sequels would be a cinch to think up? At least, it was for this particular story.  
This story takes place right after the events from "Pigeons and Bugs," so you might want to read that before you read this. You don't have to, but some things might be clearer then if you do. ^_^  
In contrast to the last story, I think I'll be doing this one in chapters, but I'm very weary of that option. Mostly this is because I have a bad reputation with my chaptered stories: I do not finish them. I just want to continue the story so much but after a while I lose interest then drop the story altogether.  
It doesn't help that I don't have an idea for an "ending" to this story.  
Ah well... I guess I'll just cross that bridge when I get to it.  
  
Warnings:  
Not much information is given about some of these characters's background. I guess that's where the power of "fandom" comes in. That's right, I'm pulling these biographies outta my ass. _ Stuff here may or may not have happened, we don't know... I'd like to think they did, but until I get it straight from the dolphin's mouth the validity of the events that are portrayed here can still be questioned. Even so, don't try to think too much about it, okay? After all, it is just "fan-fiction".  
Same warnings from the other story: Slight chance of OOC'ness with bad grammar and tense usage ahead... proceed with caution.  
Some hints of some a shounen-ai relationship in this chapter, but it's not who you think. *grin* As for Kakashi and Iruka... they're still working on it, so again just use your fan'ish imagination. XD  
  
Comments and Criticism wanted: Please apply within.  
  
Midnight Confessions. By Lizmun  
  
~~~***~~~  
  
"Think of it as a code, what parents tell their kids, or what senseis tell their students." Turning about Kakashi gave a playful wink at Iruka, who, in return, just shifted his eyes at the older man.  
  
Pleased with the answer, Naruto nodded to his both teachers then closed his eyes to catch up on a bit of sleep. Iruka smiled at the sight then turned to push Kakashi out of the room and leave the boy in peace  
  
The door closed with a soft, audible click, and Iruka let out a soft tired sigh as he rested his back against the cool wooden door. Iruka closed his eyes and let the smooth hard surface press against his tense and tired muscles. It had been an overly exhausting day. He was grateful for the fact that tomorrow he didn't have to teach. He didn't think his sanity would survive the day with a class full of hopeful, energetic ninja wannabes.  
  
Still, he did have those vast amounts of papers he abandoned earlier in his plight for food and peace... which, he may add, he didn't get adequate amount of either. All in all, he needed sleep, and he needed it now.  
  
With a polite bow, Iruka gave a tired smile to the silver-haired jounin who was simply passing the time just idly staring at a pile of empty noodle cups, giving them cautious glances as if daring one of them to move or something.  
  
"Since you easily found your way in, I'm sure you can find your way out. Good night, Kakashi-sensei."  
  
Kakashi, perked his eye up at the early dismissal. Unlike Iruka, he wasn't the least bit sleepy. He knew he shouldn't have eaten that bowl so late at night, but there are few things a person shouldn't ever avoid if they couldn't help it and a free food was one of those things.  
  
"Yare yare... looks like someone is in a need of a nap. I guess it is a bit late. Would you like me to accompany you home? We can't have you wandering out in the streets way past your curfew. Who knows how many weirdoes or perverts you'll bump into this late at night."  
  
Although Iruka knew that Kakashi had been kidding from the expression of humor lingering in that silver-haired jounin's single eye; Iruka couldn't help but feel deeply annoyed at the words. It reminded him of the time when that would be all what the other adults in the village would ask him when he had been younger and was taking a stroll in the moonlight. Of course they would also ask what other trouble he was getting himself into, but their inquiries weren't on an ungrounded basis.  
  
Deciding it wasn't worth upsetting himself about it. After all, nowadays, he had been the one to ask the very same questions whenever he came across his own students in the streets. With a loud exhalation of breath, Iruka tilted his head up to stretch his tired neck muscles. Maybe it was from the stress, the headache that lingered throughout the day, or maybe it was just simple and unbidden frustration from the jounin's words and tone, but before the tired teacher knew it, a retort flowed out of his dry lips before his mind could register them and edit them for tact and politeness.  
  
"Oh don't worry about me; after all, I'm sure none can surpass your greatness when it comes to being weird and perverted. G'night now."  
  
Kakashi, if he hadn't been pressed against the opposite wall, would have leaned back in surprise. Ever since he knew the chunin, he never knew the man to be so harsh and condescending in his words. Of course he formally just met the man that evening, but as Team 7's teacher, he had taken it as his responsibility to learn about his students' backgrounds, including learning about their previous sensei.  
  
Iruka had just turned the knob to leave the apartment when he froze, his words finally escaping its lag and registering within the scared man's head. With a quick turn on his heel, Iruka bowed low towards Kakashi. His face, at least the areas that weren't being covered by stray bangs, was flushed with embarrassment.  
  
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean... that is to say..." Iruka paused in his rambling. His fists were clenched tightly within his sides. With a shake of his head Iruka then bowed further down. "I'm sorry, I have to go."  
  
'Curiouser and curiouser' was the term that popped into Kakashi's head at that moment. Personally he wasn't that upset over the comment. On the contrary, he couldn't help but smile and agree at the words, thank you very much. And to have come from Iruka himself made it even more amusing. He didn't think the sensei had it in him to still have a sharp wit about him. He didn't think it was still within his character. From the tales and rumors given to him from the other adults in the village, heck, he practically expected a freaking halo over the teacher's head.  
  
Kakashi then had a weird and random thought. If Iruka was this amusing to be around with when he was this tired, just imagine how much more fun he'd have being around him if he was drop dead exhausted. However, something within Kakashi nagged that it wouldn't be nice to deprive the teacher of some much needed sleep. Of course, at this, another voice, one with a slightly impish tone, popped in his head stating that a ninja who never missed a full nights rest was a pampered, weak and soon-to- be dead ninja.  
  
Well, Kakashi really couldn't argue with that logic. Convinced that he had Iruka's well being in mind, Kakashi began to follow the disgruntled teacher as the young man slightly stumbled down the paved streets. Catching up to the young man, Kakashi gave an amused grin at the still blushing chunin. Keeping up with the young man's pace, Kakashi casually folded his arms behind his head almost as if to defuse the agitated man with the relaxed gesture.  
  
"Don't tell me you're headed off home just yet. The night's still young. It's such a beautiful night to spend inside and doing something boring such as sleeping."  
  
Iruka merely gave a quick glare at silver-haired man. He rather enjoyed sleeping. Sometimes he had felt that there weren't enough hours in the night to get a nice healthy sleep. With a shake of his head he hurried his pace. If he was going any faster, he may have been running.  
  
"Look! I said I was sorry. Maybe next time, alright? Leave me alone! Good night!" He added more force onto his tone with the last two words. Perhaps then the guy would get a clue and follow his simple request. The man was beginning to seriously irritate him. Didn't the idiot understand that he didn't want to be bothered at the moment? That right now, he just wanted to curl up in his bed and enjoy a nice dreamless sleep? Iruka just wanted to be alone right now, was that really too much to ask?  
  
He supposed it was.  
  
Kakashi kept his pace equal to the other man's, however, the way the jounin moved made it seem that he was taking a casual stroll... despite the rapid speed the two men were going.  
  
Having enough of this foolishness, Iruka let out a burst of chakara centered on his legs. Using the increase of energy, the teacher made a sprint down the street, leaving trail of wind and dust at his wake.  
  
Kakashi slowed his pace until he came to a casual stop, somewhat blinking at the sudden departure. Well, alright, not sudden. The man was practically running away from him. Shifting his stance to one side, Kakashi stuck both his hands into his pockets, just standing there in the middle of the empty streets. Tilting his head up he stared at the starry night sky taking a moment to enjoy the beauty of the serene view.  
  
"And here I thought you didn't want to play, Iru-kun. Very well, challenge accepted."  
  
A small burst of wind was all that was left of the silver haired man as he disappeared into the woods, following a now-familiar trail of light chakara. It took a while, but the jounin finally found the stubborn chunin near the edge of the forest. Landing on a branch that overviewed the area, he found Iruka with his back towards the jounin, facing some sort of storage room.  
  
For a while, nothing was said. Thinking that the chunin was not aware of his presence, Kakashi let his chakara raise a bit, just enough to get the younger man's attention. Alas it was but a moot point. Figuring he had nothing else to do at that moment, Kakashi allowed himself a moment to observe the area. It didn't seem so special so he wondered why Iruka had been staring so diligently to that particular side of the shack. No wait... there. On one of the boards, that formed the wall to the shack, was a trace amount of blood. Judging from the color, it was but a few days old. So there had been a fight here, interesting.  
  
Kakashi's thoughts were soon interrupted as he glanced at Iruka, kneeling himself down to the ground and slowly picking up a dry-blood stained kunai. Silently hopping to the ground, Kakashi stealthily made his way beside the teacher. He didn't know why he was bothering so much with the young man. Frankly, he was beginning to get bored of Iruka's fickle antics, yet here he was, finding himself a bit worried about the young man. No, not "worried," maybe "curious"... yeah, that was it, he was just curious.  
  
"Iruka-sensei...?"  
  
Kakashi leaned forward to place a hand on the still chunin. Just as his hand was about to make contact, however, a flash of warning shot through his spine, forcing him to lean back suddenly. He felt, rather than saw, the blade as it swooshed past his face, sending a few silver strands of hair fluttering to the ground. Instantly Kakashi hopped back a few feet to distance himself from the danger. Looking up he saw Iruka still crouched in the ground with his chest rising up and down in heavy breaths. Extended to the side stretched Iruka's right arm, a freshly polished kunai clasped in that hand while the old blood-stained kunai had been apparently switched to his left.  
  
Keeping his head lowered so that the shadows of the night covered his face, Iruka slowly rose to his feet. With another burst of speed, Iruka instantly approached the jounin and swung at him again with the polished kunai, the other blade clenched closely to his other side. Kakashi easily dodged the swings, more prepared for the attacks than at first... of course his aversion to the blade simply caused Iruka to swing even more sporadically at the other man.  
  
As the blade slashed near Kakashi's ear, he couldn't help but wonder why Iruka was using only that one blade. The other blade didn't look too rusty, so it wasn't as if the metal was of poor quality. Testing a hunch, Kakashi suddenly pulled out a kunai of his own and flung it towards Iruka's left side.  
  
Kakashi watched as Iruka almost, upon reflex, brought his left hand up to block the thrown object, yet at mid-way upon ascent, the teacher hesitated then instead snapped his body to the side to avoid the object. However his hesitation proved to be a bit costly as the blade's edge sliced the younger man's arm, leaving a trail of blood at as the knife ventured further only to impale itself at the shack behind him.  
  
If Kakashi didn't know better, he could swear that Iruka was protecting the blood-stained weapon. Still, Kakashi decided he had enough of Iruka's playing around. Before the brunette knew what was happening, he was already on the ground, face down, with both arms twisted behind him.  
  
"Drop the weapons, Iruka-sensei." Kakashi pleaded to the man with a slightly bored voice.  
  
"Let go...." Iruka muffled out as his face was full of grass and dirt. Still, his tone carried with a strong sense of anger, hurt and... hatred? Kakashi shook his head and twisted the hands a bit more to force the muscles to instinctly either relax or risk breakage.  
  
"You're making this much more difficult than it needs to be, sensei. Drop the knife." Kakashi's tone still carried the same placid tone, but one could hear the slight urgency in his voice.  
  
Iruka yelled out as the twisting of his arm tugged at his wound, tearing the flesh wider. He let go of the polished blade in his right hand but kept his hold on the blood stained kunai. Already he could feel the tendons stretching to their limit. Gritting his teeth he looked back, just barely enough to see his tormentor's silver hair shine in the moonlight.  
  
"Let... go...!"  
  
"Yare yare... now I see where Naruto gets his stubbornness.... Well, you forced me to do this, sensei." Kakashi narrowed his eyes down at the struggling man and twisted the arm a bit more. Then, to enforce more pain, Kakashi pushed down at the wrist, threatening to pop the arm from the shoulder's joint socket.  
  
This was enough. With a louder yell, Iruka released his hold on the kunai, allowing it to drop and cushion itself over the plush grass. Satisfied with the result, Kakashi let go of his own hold of Iruka's hands and stepped back, weary of another weapon ready to slash at him.  
  
With sore and shaking arms, Iruka pushed himself up to a seating position. He looked down at the blood-stained grass below him and sighed. He brought one arm to his left shoulder and clasped his hand over the wound, applying pressure to the opening. He guessed he was being stubborn, but he just couldn't find it within himself to let go, no matter what. Tilting his head up, his eyes encountered the narrowed and scrutinizing ones of the jounin before him. It was the first time that Iruka had seen Kakashi's other eye, and now he was thankful that the other man had decided to keep it covered: the Shanrigan was a creepy thing to behold.  
  
Their eyes met for a few moments until Iruka forced himself to look away, almost intimidated and highly bothered by those eyes.  
  
"W... what?"  
  
"Who's Mizuki?"  
  
Iruka's snapped back to look at Kakashi. His own eyes were wide with shock and a bit of fear.  
  
"Ho... how did you...?" Iruka began, but was interrupted by Kakashi who raised his hand to stop him.  
  
"You yelled out 'yamero Mizuki' at that final twist...."  
  
Iruka shivered at that. He did not realize he yelled that name out loud. He clenched his teeth tightly in frustration. He thought he was over this. No, he was over this; he just needed to convince himself of that.  
  
"It doesn't matter. He's no one. You shouldn't worry about it. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to call you that, and I guess I just wasn't thinking."  
  
Kakashi's eyes seemed to narrow even more at this. He couldn't help but feel slightly disgusted at the sight before him. He didn't like this reserved and diffident version of Iruka. Just a few moments ago Iruka was risking both his arms for a stupid weapon. Oddly, Kakashi preferred that side of the teacher than this one. Suddenly another hunch popped into his mind. Kneeling over, Kakashi swiped the blood-stained blade from the ground and dangled it away from Iruka's reach.  
  
"Well then, perhaps I should go on and destroy this. It seems to bring out the worst in you, Iruka-sensei."  
  
Half the time it took to blink an eye, Iruka was already standing and hastily reaching for the weapon.  
  
"NO! Stop! Alright! I'll tell you, just don't..." Iruka let out a sigh of relief as Kakashi lowered the blade down, but he still didn't show any intent of giving it back to the teacher. "Maybe we should get some coffee or something; this will probably take a while to explain."  
  
~~~***~~~~  
  
I think I'll stop here. XD I feel if I wrote the whole thing at once, it's going to take a month or so to complete... and even I don't have that much of an attention span. Don't worry, I have about four full pages (front and back) full of ideas for this story, and to give you a hint on how long it'll take me to complete all of them, well, it took me about 6 pages to build up to the first idea. XD  
  
Well, I'm off to write the next chapter. Comments and criticism is deeply appreciated. It encourages me to write and see where I've gone wrong, so please feel free to review.  
  
Again thank you for reading. 


	2. 2 Sealed Shrine

Fuuuu! I guess I was a bit too hard on Iruka-sensei! Waaaah I'm not dolphin friendly! XD  
  
Anyway, I'm glad people like this. Sorry if it's a bit confusing, but things will be explained soon; hopefully in this chapter, but then again, probably not.  
  
Also, I must warn everyone, this isn't exactly like my last story where it was /humor. This one's /angst, so if you came here looking for a good laugh, I suggest you look else where... unless you share Orochimaru or Gaara's sadistical humor.  
  
Before I forget, this fic is still non yaoi/shounen-ai. But it has enough hints to tickle the otaku's imagination. XD  
  
Now, on with the fic.  
  
Midnight Confessions Chapter 2  
  
~~~***~~~  
  
In the end both Kakashi and Iruka arrived at the teacher's small apartment. A few weeks after the attack, Iruka had been offered to keep his family's home by the hokage himself, but Iruka had declined the offer, thinking that keeping the house would not allow him to move on with his own life. Instead he asked the Third to sell his home to help pay for living expenses. The man agreed to the terms and assigned a small living space for the orphaned boy, giving him an allowance to pay for room and board. However, to this day, no one has ever set foot into the old Umino home. Iruka had a few speculations for this; one, it was haunted, or two... two it was due to the fact that the Umino's had been respected and adored individuals in the community.  
  
Iruka's mother, although a chunin herself, would jokingly boast that she kicked the fourth's ass during their chunin exams. She had excelled in illusions, chakara techniques and summonings rather than physical combat. She, and the fourth had been on rival teams after graduating from the academy, but it was a friendly rivalry. Although sometimes haughty and stubborn when provoked, she also had a soothing disposition to her, strong enough to placate even the frustrating of individuals.  
  
Iruka's father had been a former ANBU and had switched to be an elite tutor when he had met Iruka's mother. However, unlike Ebisu, Iruka's father was never considered arrogant but rather solemn and formal to a degree of annoyance. Iruka's father had only but one weakness and that had been little children. It was only around them that Iruka's father's expression would change to a rare soft smile rather than the constant puckered brow. Iruka's father also had a way to make even the novice of children understand the most complex and frustrating of jujitsus and his teachings produced some of the best shinobi the village had seen with the vast majority of his students reaching jounin or higher.  
  
Sometimes Iruka would wonder to himself, if his father was alive, how would he react to know that his only son stayed as a chunin? Would he be disappointed in him? Shaking his head, Iruka figured it wouldn't do well to think of such matters at the moment. Taking out a key from his pocket, he opened the door to his apartment and walked in, leaving the door open to allow his follower entry.  
  
Kakashi took in the wordless invitation and stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. Looking about he didn't think the apartment was that bad. The main room was a living room, dining room and kitchen all in one. The only thing that separated each of the rooms was a small protruding wall between the living and the dining room and tile floor for the kitchen. On one side of the room were three doors. One of them was slightly open and he could guess, from the futon on the ground, that it was a bedroom. The other two would be a mystery until he got the chance to explore a bit. Turning around, he glanced back at the "living room" again. If not for a few papers scattered on a small table in the middle of the room, the place was relatively clean. To the opposite wall of the doorways stood a long, narrow table with picture frames set upon it, a book-case full of scrolls and regular books and a closed cabinet with lock and a seal between the openings.  
  
Suffice it to say, the cabinet got Kakashi's curiosity going again... even more so when he saw Iruka approach the cabinet and pull out a brush pen from the book-case's drawer, writing an unfamiliar kanji over the cabinet's paper seal.  
  
"May I have the knife back, Kakashi? Don't worry, I promise I won't attack you with it." Iruka stepped back to open the cabinet doors. The seal tore in half and slight amount of smoke blew between the cracks. When the doors were open fully, Kakashi couldn't help but raise a brow at the sight.  
  
The cabinet consisted of many shelves: the middle shelf being the widest. On the middle shelf were a few incense holders, used candles and a large jewelry box with its own lock and seal. The other shelves had several head-protectors, trinkets and pictures. There wasn't really a lot, only about a dozen or so of each of the items. Some of the hitai-ate looked new, others looked mangled scuffed and torn. What disturbed Kakashi the most were some of the red stains on the majority of them.  
  
Moving his eye elsewhere, he looked at the various trinkets. Some were various jewelry items: pendants, rings or other chains. Some had been weapons to some small shuriken to a full length katana hanging on the back of one of the cabinet doors.  
  
Finally, Kakashi's eye turned towards the pictures pasted on the walls of the cabinet and to those in small frames. Most of the pictures had been of smiling children, with the occasional solemn face here and there. Suddenly Kakashi's expression darkened as his eye stopped at a small picture on one of the walls. He had recognized that face of someone he had worked with in a Class-S mission. He had been a recently graduated jounin, but the kid was damn good. Sadly, the boy had lost his life during one of their mission while taking the blow for another. He never knew the name of that kid but the same carefree eyes and smile were there in the picture.  
  
"This is..." Kakashi began, his voice almost tightening up at the realization to what he was looking at.  
  
"Aa..." Iruka confirmed, seeming to know what the other man was about to say. "These were my former students from when I started teaching. Many of them killed in the line of duty whether it was in missions or in wars or by other means. This is my shrine to them."  
  
Kakashi just stayed silent, observing how the teacher's shoulders slumped slightly. Iruka, unaware of the scrutiny continued his narration.  
  
"When a shinobi dies, everything about them is erased; in fact, just having this here can get me into serious trouble. Still, I keep this shrine to remember them, to remember that they had existed before, that they are never forgotten. It also serves as my motivation, to better teach all my other students... just so I won't have to put another head-protector or picture to this shrine."  
  
"And was Mizuki another of your students?" Kakashi offered the kunai back to the teacher, careful not to touch the blood on the blade.  
  
Iruka's soft, reminiscing smile slowly turned into a bitter frown at the mention of that name. Looking almost in disgust at the blade, the teacher closed his eyes and let out a releasing breath. Opening his eyes back up, he gave a tired and thankful expression to Kakashi then took the weapon gently in his hands, hanging it on a hook nailed to the wall of the cabinet. Done with his task, Iruka took a moment to step back and stare at the inside of the cabinet, before closing the doors shut. Taking out a blank paper, he sticks it over the old seal and with three fingers he began to trace some rapid kanji over it. His mother had thought it had been necessary to teach her son about seals and bonds, mostly due to the other children stealing his lunch at school. The paper flashed brightly for a second and words slowly appeared on the paper, forming it into a seal.  
  
Kakashi couldn't help but grin at this. So Iruka knew how to form chakara bonds? This particular bond had been an old form of jujitsu that consisted of the individual using their chakara to write words and incantations forming a seal. Although the concept was quite simple, not many could fully perform this task. Chakara bonds were considered one of the top forms of security when it came to with-holding documents or other important scrolls. Should an enemy open the bond, but neglect to displace the seal, they would set off traps that could either have weapons flung at them, summon a guard or, depending on the maker or the strength of the seal, transport the individual to another area of the village or another village altogether.  
  
"Mizuki wasn't a student of mine..." Iruka stated, making his way towards the kitchen to place a kettle on the newly-lit stove, interrupting Kakashi of his thoughts. "... but rather he was a fellow teacher for whom I had worked with. He betrayed the village when he used Naruto to go after the sacred Seal of Scrolls. He hated the boy, and still blamed him for the village's pain and loss. Luckily we were able to stop him before it was too late."  
  
Iruka's tone sounded cold and mechanical, almost as if he were reading from a script. There was something else to the story, Kakashi was sure of it. Kakashi looked back at the cabinet, and then turned his head back to look at Iruka, raising a brow at the chunin to give him a look that seemed to express "you must be kidding me".  
  
"If that is so, why then add that weapon to your collection? Traitors within a village receive just the same fate as missing nin. It's probably safe to say that he has already been taken care of. I would also think from the fact that he used Naruto as a scapegoat wouldn't put him too high in your graces either."  
  
"Aaa..." Iruka confirmed, "but perhaps it's because it's hard to really hate someone when you know they did that with you in mind." Iruka walked back to the living room, carrying a tray with a kettle and two small cups. "I'm sorry, I forgot I ran out of coffee, is tea fine?"  
  
Even the fact that he had bee a former ANBU member didn't prevent Kakashi from twitching his eye at the sudden change of subject, still the twitch was not enough to be noticeable. Giving a grunt of affirmation about the tea, Kakashi took the cup into his hands and took a light whiff: Bagged tea. Inwardly he pouted at this. He always found their taste too bitter and too weak. Well, beggars can't be choosers, now can they?  
  
"From the way you describe it, it was much more than a teacher-to- teacher relationship."  
  
Iruka smiled slightly at Kakashi's insight. He had been expecting the jounin to find the hidden meaning within his words; in fact, he would have been shocked if the older man let the matter pass as it was. Still, despite it all, it still brought a slight blush to Iruka's cheeks to recognize the fact within those words. Looking up at the ceiling, Iruka sighed, preparing himself to recount his tale to the other man.  
  
"Aa... Mizuki was more to me than just another teacher. Even though he was older than me by a year, he and I had been friends since our own days in the academy. However, unlike my other classmates, Mizuki had been different. He was the first person, near my age, who didn't look at me in pity or that I was just some annoying and idiotical class-clown out for a few laughs. He knew what I was going through, because he was going through almost the same thing. Just as I had lost my parents during the... attack, Mizuki had lost his father and older sister in the battle as well. His mother hadn't been a ninja, but she worked just as hard to make a living for both her and Mizuki. Because of so, she was hardly there for him when he came home from training.  
  
"We were just too similar not to be friends. He knew the meaning of my jokes, my pranks and my antics. In fact, he was known to pull off a few good ones himself, which was surprising if you only knew him by reputation. However, he was also the one to calm me down or to back me up whenever I went a little over my head."  
  
Iruka paused in his narration to take a loud sip of the bitter tea, rehydrating his mouth from talking too long, and trying to get the magic of the caffeine within the tea to keep him awake. Feeling the parchedness leave temporary, he continued.  
  
"I looked up to him, and I think I tried to be a little like him. Mizuki was always overly polite to grown-ups and strangers. He had told me that the only way to get anyone to acknowledge you was to get in their good graces." Iruka chuckled here, almost if conjuring up a fond memory. "I didn't want to believe him at first. I was having too much fun. Plus, seeing my classmates smile when they laughed at my mistakes made me feel... acknowledged. I felt like I meant something to them, even if it was entertainment with a cheap prank. Adults were too serious and too fickle in their ways, and to get on their good side seemed like a lot of work... especially after all the trouble I had caused for them with my antics, so I stuck to my childish manners for a while."  
  
Looking back down from the ceiling, Iruka blinked at the sight of Kakashi giving him an amused expression. The older man had his chin propped up with the palm of his hands, his elbows fully on the table.  
  
The jounin's cup of tea was now empty and Iruka furrowed his brows in half astonishment and half disappointment at that. Iruka had also had that childish urge to look under the mask but he also knew when to pry and when not to. Shaking his head from the distraction, Iruka refilled his own cup and continued.  
  
"Although my pranks were bad they pale compared to Naruto's antics, which was why I was surprised when I had been called to the Hokage-sama's office. Well, alright, not surprised, more like terrified out of my wits." Iruka chuckled at the memory. "It didn't help that my other classmates tried to scare me saying that I would be kicked out of the village and pronounced a missing nin for all my bad deeds. So, with my head held high, and my knees shaking like dry leaves in November, I strolled into the office like a dead-nin walking.  
  
"Suffice to say I wasn't kicked out, but I did receive a worse punishment, the lecture of a lifetime." Here, Iruka paused, giving a dismal smile as the words flashed through his mind momentarily. "I was used to adults lecturing, and I had always made it seem that I wasn't listening and just blocking out their words with my actions, but the truth is I remember each and every one."  
  
'At least that way...' Iruka silently thought to himself, 'it was better to stay up all night mulling over their harsh words than facing those chronic nightmares of that one particular night.'  
  
Kakashi saw the troubling pain in the younger man's eyes when he fell silent, but that moment ended when Iruka sighed and closed his eyes. Reopening his eyes, Iruka looked back at Kakashi with a soft smile and an almost natural, carefree expression.  
  
'Maa...that's not fair, Iru-kun...' Kakashi inwardly thought, eying the younger man with intense scrutiny. 'You're better at wearing masks than I am.'  
  
~~~***~~~  
  
Haha.. I'm so cruel to end it right here, but the chapter's getting too long, I just feel I need to post the next part now before people forget about my story. The turnout rate for Naruto fics is astounding... O_o The lack of Iruka-centered fics is disappointing... u_u The rate of yaoi vs non-yaoi fics is slightly disturbing... 6_6 But... slightly amusing at the same time... ^_^; Ah well.... I'm working on chapter 3 at this moment... well not at THIS moment since I'm writing this, but... well... you know what I mean.  
  
I want to thank everyone for their reviews; you guys really are my motivation. ^_^  
  
As mentioned before, I know this is a sequel to "Pigeons and Bugs" but it's not of the same genre. Again, I'm sorry if you guys thought it would have the same silly humor, but I suppose that's because of the lack of Naruto here. XD Just think about it; without the boy, this series would be too angsty even for me. O_O I'll still try to incorporate the silliness here and there, maybe to give pause to the seriousness, but don't hate me too much if it's still not enough.  
  
Again, thanks for reading. 


	3. 3 Reason

Rather than doing my taxes, I did this. Meh... Same disclaimers and warnings apply, see previous chapters for details.  
  
Midnight Confessions Chapter 3  
  
~~~***~~~  
  
Iruka took a final sip of his tea and stared at the residue left on the bottom of the cup. He only had two servings of his strongest tea and yet he still felt tired. Looking back to his "guest", he found the older man giving him a narrow-eyed stare. It was really hard to decipher the other man's true emotions with that cloth covering most of his face, but at least he could venture that it wasn't the same amused expression as before. With a sigh, Iruka began to gather the empty cups onto the tray and stood from his position on the table.  
  
"I'm sorry. It's getting late, and I'm probably boring you with my blabbering." Iruka let out a forced laugh to break the mood. "I'm sure you'd like go home but here I am, keeping you hostage while most likely forcing you to listen to something that is probably none of your business."  
  
Kakashi's frown dwelled deeper as he could almost see Iruka begin to replace the walls within himself. Sure he had felt a bit uncomfortable when the young man just freely opened up to him like so, but that feeling was rapidly dispersed when he found himself amused at the different side of the quiet teacher. Perhaps what the younger man needed was a little push to continue.  
  
"Don't stop now, sensei, it's was just getting good. I promise I'll go to bed after the bedtime story, really!"  
  
Iruka couldn't help but chuckle at Kakashi's whiny and childish tone. As he set the tray in the sink, and ran a bit of water over the dishes, Iruka sighed and shook his head. He knew he had already said too much. This was why he refused to become a jounin: He knew he was too emotional, and that could be his undoing. Iruka hadn't wished to say much to the silver-haired man, but the idea that someone was just willing to listen to him made him bear out his secrets to him. That was dangerous in his line of work and it could make him easy prey against the village.  
  
It also proved to be dangerous to his self. To say so much was to impose trust to the older man. He knew now that trust should be given out in discretion in the future.  
  
From the looks of it, he really needed to work on that in the future.  
  
Well, he couldn't take back his words now, but perhaps he could prevent anything else being said. Walking back to the main room, Iruka leaned against the protruding wall and folded his arms in front of him. He gave the other man a placid smile, trying to falsify the same humor that was just given to him.  
  
"No, I think I've said enough. Heavens forbid Naruto should find out about this. After all, this is great blackmail material, don't you think so? It just might give him an excuse to do worse pranks with the reason that if his former sensei could do it, then I didn't have the right to yell at him for his own pranks. No, Kakashi, I think we should stop now. I think you should leave now. I hope you will do well and not mention any of this to anyone, thank you."  
  
There was no crinkle to the younger man's eyes to show that the smile was real. If anything, the smile just looked like a stretch of muscles on an overly expressionless face.  
  
"Why sensei, that could almost pass as a threat." Kakashi gave the other man a slightly dangerous stare. Inwardly he was joking, but perhaps intimidation would force the other man to continue.  
  
If there was anything Kakashi hated the most was to leave a good story unfinished.  
  
Iruka's arms dropped in surprise. His fight earlier with the other man proved he was unmatched against the jounin. Of course he had been furious and lacked focus at the time, but he had noticed the severe gap between their skills. It would not be a good idea, at the moment, to have the other man against him. Composing himself out of the shock, Iruka gave a soft chuckle to try to break the tension he felt.  
  
"No no no! It's not like that. Think of it as in exchange for the drink." Iruka chuckled nervously, reaching back to scratch the nape of his own neck.  
  
"The tea wasn't that great." Kakashi deadpanned, causing the other man to freeze up. Kakashi was glad for the mask at moments like these; it hid the slight smirk he got from the other man's response.  
  
Iruka blinked at the other man, but since he couldn't identify any jest coming from the masked man, Iruka had to take the man seriously. Clenching his eyes shut, Iruka began to blame himself for his blunder. Turning away, he scowled mostly to himself in frustration.  
  
"Fine, do as you please. I knew better than to say too much in your presence. You have quite the reputation of having a quite sadistical sense of humor. I suppose I deserve this." Iruka sighed, resigning himself to his fate.  
  
Kakashi's smile faded slowly as the silence progressed. Hadn't Iruka said something earlier about disliking the way adults took things too seriously? With his newly acquired "good mood" blown out the window, Kakashi let out a long suffering sigh at the fickle man before him.  
  
"The day people begin to assume your actions, is the day you begin to get slightly predictable. That doesn't go well with my mysterious persona." Kakashi pushed himself away from the table and stood, slowly walking towards the teacher. "Though I can understand why you don't trust me, frankly I wouldn't trust myself either, but there's something more to this isn't there, Iruka-sensei?"  
  
Iruka looked up briefly at Kakashi, giving a slightly puzzled expression at the other man's words, but then looked away as the older man approached him. Although it wasn't as powerful as the sharigan, the other eye made him feel just as uncomfortable and slightly fearful. He had also heard of the other man's uncanny sense of insight and deduction. All in all, this did not bode well for the teacher.  
  
"Could this have anything to do with Mizuki?" Kakashi smirked at the slight flinch from the teacher. "Ah... now I see. I had thought it was a bit weird you would open up to someone you hardly knew, especially when that person had been annoying you to the point of frustration earlier."  
  
Kakashi began to pace in front of the younger man, almost seeming like a jackal analyzing it's prey. It couldn't have been more right.  
  
"The fact that it was me must say something about the situation. Are you this open with Naruto? Perhaps I remind you of Mizuki, is that it?" At this Iruka's head dropped as he tried to hide his expression from the other man. Biting his lip in frustration, Iruka silently pleaded to the other man to cease his torture. Alas, Kakashi still continued his torment, approaching the other man face to face, then began to speak in a cold but calm manner.  
  
"Tell me, what is it about me that would make me similar to Mizuki? I think I have the right to know why you look at me with the utter most hate at one point, and then with complete trust at another."  
  
For a long moment, Iruka stayed silent, his head still dropped to his chest.  
  
"You're right. I had no right to treat you like that, and I apologize. It is just... you... you looked too much like him that it hurt. Though the style is different, the color of the hair is the same... so is the carefree and slightly amused tone of your voice. It's the little things mostly, but it's just too much for me to bear." Iruka sighed and slid himself down the wall and brought his knees to his chest. "I couldn't stand looking at you without thinking of him. It's just too confusing. With you, I see the friend I've had for years and almost naturally say things I wouldn't tell anyone else, but then I remember the hurt he caused me.  
  
"That place in the woods, where you found me earlier, was where it all happened. It happened just a few days ago. In fact, it was the same day Naruto graduated. All I could remember, while standing there, was how angry I was that Mizuki would do this to me... for me. After being tended to my own wounds, I pleaded to Hokage-sama to grant me a few moments to speak to Mizuki. I just had to know why, after so many years, why he would destroy our friendship with that betrayal."  
  
Iruka lifted his head up to finally make eye-contact with the jounin. The young teacher's eyes were already slightly red from the stream of tears coming out from within the lids. The dark, watery, russet orbs expressed a maddening amount of pain, confusion and slight anger that caused the older man to step back in surprise.  
  
"He told me he did it because he couldn't stand to look at me with my so-called 'lonely eyes'. He said he hated the fact that he knew I would go home and cry myself to sleep at nights, and then act as if nothing was wrong the following morning. He couldn't understand how I could tolerate Naruto when he knew that I knew that inside the boy was the cause of my pain. He thought... that if he could get rid of the poor boy, it would make me happier.  
  
Seeing Kakashi's wary stare caused Iruka to sigh and huddle himself closer, wrapping his arms around his knees and clasping his forearms tightly, making him look like a small, vulnerable child, rather than the determined, expressive adult that he was.  
  
Kakashi couldn't help but worry at that dead tone he heard from the once emotional sensei. What added to the worry were the now equally dull and despondent eyes that stared back at him. Personally, he had no clue what to do with Iruka. Kakashi understood that he wasn't a social individual, and ironically, Iruka would have been the best candidate to help in these types of situations.  
  
Kakashi just wasn't the type to go all mushy and give hugs or anything like that. Still, it didn't mean he would just stand there uselessly. Crouching down to the other man's level, Kakashi circumspectly and slowly placed his gloved hand over Iruka's shoulder, ready to snap the appendage back should the man try to bite him or slice it off.  
  
"Iruka-sensei...?"  
  
"Leave."  
  
Kakashi displaced his hand away from the other man's shoulder and sighed. Iruka's voice was muffled but the tone wasn't hateful as he had expected to be. Rather it was more exhausted and apologetic, despite the sharp command.  
  
"Please leave, Kakashi-sensei. I don't think I can stand looking at you any longer. I have no doubt that you are a good man, and you would be a wonderful teacher for Haruna-chan, Uchiha-kun and Naruto. However... please don't approach me again. It's nothing personal. I simply need to get over this quickly and I am useless to anyone right now this way. I will be fine. I've managed before, so you do not need to worry about anything."  
  
Kakashi's uncovered eye seemed to start twitching visibly at this point. At first he had felt a pang of ache from the other man's words. Something about rejection does that to a person. However, as Iruka rambled on, Kakashi couldn't also help but grow a bit frustrated at the younger man.  
  
If there was another thing Kakashi hated, were pity-parties.  
  
With a growl, Kakashi reached over and grabbed the young chunin from the shoulders, rapidly lifting him to his feet. Iruka couldn't help but squeak out in surprise at the sudden action. Quickly regaining his wits, Iruka looked up to glare at his aggressor, only to receive a similar glare in return. Iruka clenched his teeth in anger at the other man. Inwardly he couldn't help but grin at the childish victory he gave himself when he proclaimed to himself that at least his teeth could be seen.  
  
"Listen to me, Iruka." Kakashi began, his tone cold, unemotional and slightly intimidating. "We all have our problems, we all carry our own pain on our shoulders, but we all get over it. I'm not Mizuki, so get that through your thick skull. You say you can't stand to look at me because I remind you of him? Well, I can't stand to look at you while you act like a spoiled, stubborn child. You're a teacher, damn it! Haven't you learned anything about keeping your emotions in check at all costs?"  
  
Iruka stared in slack-jawed disbelief at the older-man's harsh words. Pulling his forearms up, Iruka quickly slipped them between Kakashi's own arms and, with a sudden snap, he broke Kakashi's grip on his shoulders. It cost him a slight tear on the shirt, but the younger man needed to be free of the other's grip.  
  
"You're wrong, Kakashi-sensei." Iruka gave a mocking smile at the taller man, adding a venomous tone to the silver-haired man's honorific. "While it is true that every one of us has our own pain, I don't think we all had gotten over it. It's merely pushed aside, bottled up, or masked over. The human body can only contain so much before it bursts. I simply choose to let my own pain out now before it gets stronger and too hard for me to handle. THAT! That is something I have taught all my students."  
  
Taking a deep sigh, Iruka dropped his angry expression and looked back at the jounin. Iruka's expression was a bit softer and he looked at the other man sympathetically. "I am still within my time to grieve, the wound is recent, and dealing with it now will prevent any backlashes in the future. I don't want to find myself breaking down in the middle of a class because somehow, something reminded me of one of the many things I try to forget. I've tried that path before and I didn't like it. You may carry that mask, but it doesn't hide everything. You still grieve for your losses. To you, your wound is as open as a picked scab with barely enough time to seal over."  
  
Iruka didn't register the impact as hard bone thwacked itself onto his cheek. The only clue the chunin had that he was hit, was when he had suddenly lost his balance and was thrown harshly to the ground. Looking up in disbelief, Iruka saw Kakashi towering over him, the other man's fist clenched tightly before him. Kakashi's shown eye seemed to be ablaze with a medley of emotions; from shock, and anger to even fear.  
  
Lowering the shaking fist to his side, Kakashi kept his glare at the man beneath him. Although the eye was still blazed with fury, the silver- haired man's tone seemed to betray the emotions as he spoke with a slightly humored tone.  
  
"It's not polite to make assumptions about strangers, Iruka-sensei. Again, you hardly know me, so I would implore you to leave your speculations to yourself."  
  
Iruka pushed himself against the wall as he stumbled back to his feet. Exhaustion was taking a huge toll on him at the moment. Despite the growing bruise on the side of his face, Iruka gave a soft smile to the other man.  
  
"Ahh... that is true, however, I am no stranger to that expression. Those eyes become quite familiar to you when they are all you see before a mirror."  
  
Kakashi's fist tightened again, but unlike before, it managed to stay at the jounin's side. With a turn of his heel, Kakashi stuffed his fists into his pockets and turned away from the younger man.  
  
"Good night, Iruka-sensei." Without another word, the jounin disappeared, leaving a puff of smoke at his wake.  
  
Shaking his head, Iruka turned and swayed as he faltered his way to his own room, ready to sleep till mid-afternoon tomorrow. With fatigued and trembling fingers, he stripped himself of the majority of his clothing, only leaving himself bare in his boxers. Kneeling down to the futon, Iruka crashed down at the cushion and sighed deeply.  
  
"Next time, I think we should lay off the caffeine."  
  
~~~***~~~  
  
You know, this could be a good ending for the story.... Nah, there are still more than three pages left of ideas to go.  
  
Anyway, I'm glad people are enjoying this. For a while I was worried that I was making these guys OOC. So far, the only complaint I had was of Iruka in the first chapter, but I hope this chapter explains why Iruka went all homicidal. XD  
  
As for Mizuki? Gods I agree! Didn't anyone else see the way those two interacted in the beginning of the first episode? The tender words, the way he seemed to know Iruka-sensei...The way Iruka spoke to him in respect while during the exams. Watching that epi again made me gush in fangirly bliss. XD  
  
Next Chapter: Iruka recounts his first meeting with Naruto. Probably more humor and more action and lot less blabbering.  
  
Thank you for making it this far. ^_^ Remember! Reviews are a good way to feed your authors! XD 


	4. 4 Mosquito Sting

Maaa... every time I upload this, it always shows up either in the second page or sometimes not at all. But I won't take the hint! I'll continue writing just to tick them off!  
  
Oh! I just received another complaint. I'm too wordy. I disagree... I'm... er... uh... descriptive. Yeah! That's it. XD  
  
Okay, so maybe I am a bit wordy. My apologies... u_u  
  
Same warnings and disclaimers apply, see previous chapters for details.  
  
Midnight confessions Chapter 4  
  
~~~***~~~  
  
There were some days in which he would regret his decision, other times he would appreciate the thought behind his actions. Today, however, today was one of the few days that Iruka would curse himself for placing his futon to face the sunrise.  
  
With a loud, frustrated moan, Iruka shifted his head to face away from the window, but the sun still relented; dutiful in its mission to wake the teacher up, despite it being a free day for the young man. Sighing in defeat, Iruka rolled himself over to lie on his back, allowing the early summer sun to warm his nightly-chilled body. He couldn't help but blearily think that it felt sorta nice. Perhaps for today, he'll categorize the decision to face the sunrise under "mixed blessings".  
  
Pushing himself up, he folded his legs under him and took in a deep breath in only to slowly let it out. It was time for his morning ritual. Closing his eyes, he brought up both his arms across his chest. Breathing in, he tensed his muscles in one arm and slowly stretched it out to his side, feeling the muscles from his forearm to his shoulder and back stretch and strengthen. Once his arm was fully extended, he held his breath and kept his muscles taunt for a few seconds then relaxed, breathing out the oxygen held in. Bringing his arm back to his chest again, he repeated the process, but for the other arm.  
  
After completing a few sets of this exercise, Iruka crawled away from his futon, and rolled it to the side, leaving a huge empty space in the middle of his room. Standing in the spot where his futon once lay, Iruka aligned his feet till it was at the same width of his shoulders. Twisting his hips slightly to the side, he crouched down and leaned back a little, placing most of his weight on the right leg. The left was perched on its tip-toes just before him, facing forward, mainly to be used as balance. To martial artists, this was called the "cat stance," however Iruka did not know the name of the term. All he knew was that this was a pose he had seen his father perform countless times as well as some of the actions he was about to do.  
  
He would do a few punches, knife blocks, upper hand blocks, alter his position and do a few forward thrusts, backward thrusts, snap-kicks, side kicks and roundhouse kicks. Once done with that set, he would switch the weight to his other leg and repeat the process. The tasks he had done were basic in form, but they were done correctly. Whenever he performed an attack he would snap his hips to add momentum, tighten the muscles to add strength just before the appendage was fully extended, hold, relax, and then snap his hips back quickly to his original position.  
  
He had once attempted to perform a kata which, when he was younger, he thought was just a silly dance. Sadly, he could only remember a few steps of any kata before having to stop his actions, causing him to go into despair. His depression would worsen when he would soon realize that there wouldn't be anyone else who could show him how to perform the movements. When asking the elders for help, they would simply chuckle and patronize him, explaining to him that ninjas were known for long-distance attacks, and although martial arts (which they had dubbed as being taijitsu) was useful in some instances, it was still inferior compared to genjitsu and ninjitsu.  
  
Still, despite their cruel mockery of martial arts in that time, Iruka would spend a half an hour to a full hour dedicated to his father's techniques. These were the few things that his father had taught him when he was a child, and every morning, without fail, he would try to attempt to complete his exercise, despite sickness or injury.  
  
Today, however, his body refused to go beyond forty, or so, minutes of the rigorous training and since it was over the minimal thirty minutes, Iruka felt satisfied with that. Wiping his hand across his drenched brow, Iruka tiredly stumbled his way to the bathroom to refresh, only to stop as his face looked upon the mirror before him.  
  
He brought a hand up to hover over the swelled purple bruise on his cheek. With delicate motions, he lightly tapped his finger over the tender area, only to wince and pull back as a sharp pain registered in his head.  
  
"Ii-ta-ta-ta-taaii..."  
  
This wasn't good. Although painless unless provoked, the bruise was considerably large. For a moment Iruka couldn't help but wonder, in awe, how Kakashi hadn't knocked a tooth out in the process. Still, was he really planning to go out looking like this? For another moment Iruka entertained that idea. Growing up, each bruise was more like a badge of honor from having survived and able to walk away another fight.  
  
Times had changed, and reluctantly he had noticed, so had he.  
  
Shaking his head, Iruka returned to his former task of heading to the bathroom for a quick shower. He still had responsibilities that needed to be attended to; he just needed to think up a few good lies in case anyone's curiosity got the best of them.  
  
The warm shower had felt like a little slice of heaven and he pouted childishly when it was over. Patting his hair and his body dry, he hung the towel over his shoulders and slipped on a clean pair of sweatpants. He needed to do laundry soon or else he'll find himself teaching class with something borrowed from Naruto's closet.  
  
Finding a fine-toothed comb within the medicine cabinet, Iruka began to delicately detangle the knots within his hair, for the umpteenth time that month contemplating the idea of chopping it all off.  
  
Iruka felt a presence nearby his home before he heard a knock on his door. Wondering who it might have been, Iruka let down the comb and cautiously approached his apartment entrance. He had figured that Naruto would have simply stormed in whenever he was around and Kakashi wouldn't have probably bothered with silly things such as doors, knowing him. An enemy wouldn't have been so polite as to knock before attacking, but that last one could still have been a possibility.  
  
Just as he was about to reach the door, the entry slammed open and Iruka found himself tumbling backwards as a force slammed into his chest.  
  
"IRUKA-SENSEI! Man, sensei, what took you so long? We kept knocking and knocking and you wouldn't answer! I told the guys we could just come on in but they said it was rude! Is it rude? You said I could just come over anytime and I didn't haveta knock! Isn't that right?"  
  
Iruka let out a chuckle as he ruffled the bundle of blond energy currently latched around his waist. Pushing himself up to a seating position, he glanced up to see that Naruto wasn't alone in today's visit. Naruto's teammates, both Sakura and Sasuke were accompanying him this morning. Sasuke had his constant brooding expression, mumbling under his breath that they had only knocked once, and then mumbled something like "dead last". Sakura was looking away with her face seemingly blushed with embarrassment. Looking down, Iruka could understand why. He was only wearing his sweatpants as his only form of cover. The towel around his shoulders had been knocked off in the tumble. Realizing his predicament, Iruka chuckled sheepishly and raised his hand to scratch idly the back of his head, feeling the still drenched tendrils of hair cling to his hand.  
  
Man... he must have looked like a drenched rat or something.  
  
Iruka's thoughts were interrupted as he felt a sharp pain on his cheek. Looking down he saw Naruto give his former teacher a confused yet slightly distressed look while bringing his finger to poke at his face.  
  
"Anou-sa... what's with the bruise, sensei?"  
  
Lying to adults was one thing; however Iruka couldn't help but wince at the thought of lying to kids, especially these three. Looking up he saw the other two stare expectantly for his answer. Sakura's expression was that of surprise and worry, Sasuke's face was darkened even worse than before. Iruka also noticed the slight clench of the boy's fist.  
  
"Oh it's nothing... a mosquito stung me last night. It must have swelled up as a reaction." It was the truth... somewhat. Kakashi's name could have been interpreted as either "scarecrow" or "mosquito and an un- commissioned soldier". It just depended on the style of kanji used. Iruka had preferred to use the latter since it was more believable than saying a scarecrow jumped him or something. Ironically, that sounded like something Kakashi would say. Still, Iruka hoped that it would help placate the three's curiosity.  
  
If anything, it just made their reactions worse.  
  
Naruto began to grow fearful, wondering out loud, over how huge the bug may have been to leave a bruise that big. Sakura had excused herself to find some ointment and some ice to reduce the swelling, occasionally giving Iruka curious glances as to affirm if what the teacher said was true. If Naruto had been at one end of the scale by misunderstanding the predicament, and Sakura had been in the middle by giving the teacher the benefit of a doubt... then Sasuke was at the opposite end, fully understanding the meaning behind the teacher's words. Sasuke glared at his teacher, dark eyes blazed in furry as the boy entertained thoughts of making the jounin's life a bit of hell.  
  
It wasn't the anger that surprised the teacher, but the fact that the boy was even angry in the first place. Although Iruka hadn't shared the same bond with Sasuke as he had with Naruto, the teacher couldn't help but feel slightly touched that he had affected the Uchiha boy enough to have provoked such a reaction. Still, how he had known that Iruka was accompanying the Jounin was anyone's guess.  
  
Still, it wouldn't do well for the team to be at odds with their silver-haired teacher. It would have been a nice form of revenge to have these three take out their fury on the other man, and it might have even helped with their combative training to tell the truth, however, it wouldn't do well if the students lost their trust and respect for the teacher.  
  
Plus, Iruka felt that he had an equal share of the blame as well. He had said too much last night, and the other man may not have been ready to hear those words. No... it would be better if he simply defused the situation now before it got out of hand.  
  
"So, what brings you three here? Shouldn't you all be training right now?" Taking the ice-pack from Sakura and giving her a small thanks, he watched amusingly as Naruto jumped from his position on the floor and began pacing around.  
  
"It's all that pervert sensei's fault! We got tired of waiting for him so we decided this time we'd go looking for him. We haven't found him yet, but then I got hungry and I saw I was near your place so I told the guys we could stay at your place for a while since you didn't have to teach today."  
  
Iruka chuckled when Sakura smacked Naruto upside the head and turned to the humored teacher with an apologetic expression.  
  
"We're sorry, sensei. We didn't mean to barge in like this, really. I told Naruto it wasn't nice to bother you on your day off, but he wouldn't listen. We'll leave if you want us to."  
  
Shaking his head, Iruka rose back to his feet and ran his hand through his now drying hair. His other hand, which held the ice-pack to his face lowered to his side.  
  
"It's alright, Sakura-chan. Naruto does this all the time, I've grown used to it to tell you the truth." Iruka chuckled good-naturedly as Naruto couldn't help but give a prideful and smug grin at the girl. "I told Naruto he could come over anytime, even when I'm not around. The same goes for you three."  
  
"Three?" Sakura blinked then turned towards Sasuke before turning back to the teacher. Suddenly a jovial voice rang from somewhere behind the protruding wall between the kitchen and "dinning room".  
  
"Maa maa... seems I've been found out! You're pretty good, Iruka- sensei."  
  
Iruka's smile turned slightly forced as he saw the team's jounin teacher emerge from the dark kitchen. Although slightly sedentary, being a school teacher did have its benefits. For one thing it raised your awareness level if only to prevent the students from daydreaming or passing notes when your back was turned or when you weren't looking. That and the fact that the kitchen tile was basically a decorated sheet of plastic covering, and Iruka had heard a familiar shifting of the air-bubble, between the sheet and floor, that gave away the jounin's position earlier.  
  
Iruka watched cautiously as Kakashi came into full view. Childishly Iruka thought he could use the melting ice-pack as a weapon should the jounin try anything, however he somewhat felt it wouldn't be necessary.  
  
"You give me too much credit, Kakashi-sensei. There isn't much space to hide in this apartment." Oh how Iruka wanted to bring the jounin's pride down and play how the other man had been to careless on Iruka's home territory, still, that wouldn't have set a good example for the kids, and frankly the less words he had with the man, the better.  
  
"...you should look into that..."  
  
Iruka raised a brow at the Jounin. If he didn't know better, he could swear he could hear regret and a sense of an apology in that tone. Was it in regards to the apartment, or was it because of something else? Looking up to the silver-haired man, Iruka gave him a curious glance, almost wordlessly asking for an explanation. Feeling the curious eyes upon him, Kakashi gave a casual stare back at Iruka, and then flicked his eyes down to the chunin's side, right to the hand that held the melted ice-bag.  
  
So that's what it was.  
  
Iruka couldn't help but smile at the conflicting emotions within him. On the one hand, he was inwardly jumping for joy for having the other give in first, claiming him to be the victor. On the other hand, he was wincing in regret for not having apologized first, thus proving himself to be the better, and more mature adult. Hmm, actually, both options were quite immature, come to think of it. Oh well, it didn't matter. He knew he would've forgiven anyway, especially when he had a role in it.  
  
Looking back to his former students, Iruka noticed that Sasuke seemed to comprehend the underlying conversation between the two teachers and had now calmed himself from his previous furry back to his casual, brooding mode. Sakura just looked at the two adults in slight confusion, trying to determine if there was any underlying hint between the two's conversation to further support whatever she had been thinking. Again, Naruto seemed to be at the opposite end of the spectrum and simply took the conversation at face value and commenced with yelling at his instructor about being late.  
  
Iruka leaned back and watched amusingly as both teacher and student bickered. Although he didn't know the jounin that well, he was somewhat distraught over the fact that he may have had ruined a potential friendship with the silver-haired man last night. Not that it mattered anyway. Hadn't he promised himself not to let anyone affect his feelings this way, especially after the whole ordeal with Mizuki?  
  
The truth was... was Iruka *really* willing to allow Kakashi a chance to hurt him like every other friend he had tried to make? Sure it was a jaded viewpoint, but it was also quite realistic. Then again, he had to remember he also took that chance when he befriended Naruto, and now look at the bond they both shared now. Still, he could feel Naruto unconsciously distancing himself from the chunin teacher, which was reasonable when the boy was now hanging around kids his same age. Like hell was Iruka going to deny the boy that. He was Naruto's teacher, that was that, and he would cheer him on from the sidelines if he had to rather than by his side.  
  
As Hyuuga Neji would profess, that was fate.  
  
~~~***~~~  
  
I'll stop here for this chapter. If it feels like a "filler" chapter, I'm sorry but that's what it is. No worries... it's a relevant filler. The next chapter would explain why I put this crap up.  
  
I've come to realize that despite any preplanning, jotting down ideas on paper, and trying to maintain a fixed storyline.... It will never happen!  
  
This story is starting to divert from my original idea, but it's actually becoming better than what I had in mind! (If that is true, can you imagine how horrible the original must be? x_x ) It still has some of the main ideas that I had thought up for the original storyline, but the method is a bit different. For one thing, this story isn't supposed to have gone this long. O.O;;  
  
Ah well, I'm glad people are enjoying this fanfic, and your kind reviews help this unworthy one continue to entertain you. ^_^  
  
I'm currently writing the next chapter, so it'll be out soon. However I'm starting to get into a bind. I'm not sure if I should follow the trend and make this a slight shounen-ai fanfic. (If I do that, I'll run the risk of making them slightly OOC and just add this to fic to the plethora of yaoish fics in this category u_u;; ) or should I break from the norm and do a non- yaoi and just tease and frustrate everyone (including myself... yes even I'm getting frustrated with the two. I just want to stick them in a closet and lock the door on them! ARGH!) Being a fanfic writer is harder than it seems people! Please tell me what you all would think... I would like to get equal reaction to both sides.  
  
Thank you! 


	5. Intermission

First off, I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed and who had stayed faithfully to this crappy fic.  
  
No, I'm not ending the fic or going on a long hiatus, I just felt I needed to explain a few things. And since FF.net doesn't allow for "author notes", I suppose I'll have to write it in story format and in first person. XD I love loopholes. ^_^  
  
Hmmm... just exactly "WHAT" are keyboard dialogues anyway?  
  
~~~~  
  
Standard keyboard: "jdkfjiejvmk!!"  
  
Natural keyboard: "Dude! Like, what's up?"  
  
Standard: "kvm gkgkl kgjoe?"  
  
Natural: "Man, I don't dig..."  
  
Standard: "JDKFJIEJVMK!!!"  
  
Natural: "Oh I getcha now... totally dude... I just hate it when 'da Man' pushes my buttons for no reason either!"  
  
~~~~  
  
Er... maybe not....  
  
To assist me in this task, I was going to rent out some of the characters from the show to provide some hilarious and witty commentary (Hey! Everyone was doing it!) The most popular ones were almost always Team 7, Shikamaru or Gaara, so I knew they'd be already taken. My first choice was to be Shino, however I felt that the Vash look-alike doesn't really talk too much to provide "hilarious and witty commentary", and I don't think the people in the apartment would appreciate a sudden infestation of little bugs. My next option (that was within my price range) was Yakushi Kabuto, but then I thought to myself that this guy looks way too much like Dr. Tofu from Ranma 1/2, and that kinda freaked me out slightly. (Evil Tofu!!) Hinata would have been too shy to say something, or possibly too OOC to control. (Those types always tend to snap at the worst possible moment.) After a whole moment of brain-hurt, I finally decided on my option: The Ichiraku owner. Okay, so I was getting slightly hungry at this time, but the possibility of ramen while we comment was almost too good to pass up.  
  
As I hopped onto my shiny new, silver and chrome colored 4-speed bike, pedaled my way uphill, passed the porn-shops advertising the Come-Come Paradise "accessory line", and then finally arrived at the slightly modern anime-rental shop's drive-thru... did I realize that the freakin' company jacked up the prices of the rentals and all I could afford were either dead NPC's or the cast's plushie avatars. Since I didn't really want blood all over my carpet (I mean, one of the guys available was a sound nin who had met his fate with Gaara's sand coffin... and let me tell you, it was NOT a pretty picture) Sooo...I chose the cute stuffs of fluff.  
  
Hey... it saves on catering too!  
  
Okay, here goes nothing.  
  
Lizmun proudly presents...  
  
Midnight Intermission!  
  
With special co-hosts, Plushie Sasuke and Plushie Gaara!!  
  
*Turns on one of those "natural sounds alarm clocks" and presses the one for waves.... Pretty close to a canned applause, really*  
  
"Thank you, thank you! So how is everyone doing tonight? Are you enjoying the fic so far?" I look around, jumping around, happy as a perky Japanese game show hostess, only to be responded with the sound of jellyfish coughing.  
  
"Oh right... forgot." As I slapped myself on the forehead, I reach over and press the "waves" button again, then get the satisfying sound of a fake applause. I turn to my co-hosts and give them an ear-splitting grin. "How about you two? How are you enjoying the story?"  
  
"...." Gaara-plushie merely gives me a stone cold glare, standing as stoic as he could next to the hello-kitty backdrop.  
  
"....." Sasuke-plushie, not to be outdone by that beanie-baby reject, adds an extra pause in its silent response.  
  
I turn to my audience and grin. "And you guys thought they'd both be out of character for this!" Reaching over to the alarm clock, I press the "jungle sounds" button, which after a few seconds of rain one could hear a bird cawing in the background... which also sounds like a weird laugh.  
  
"Okay, in all seriousness, I would first like to apologize for those of you who are waiting for a plot." Reaching back I chuckle and scratch idly at the back of my neck. "I know... I'm waiting for one as well." I force a fake laugh, Sasuke just gives me a cold glare while Gaara continues with his blank impassive expression. "The thing is, if I do some sort of plot, It'll break from the Naruto time-line. Supposedly this story could be set between just after Kakashi passes them to before team 7 headed toward the wave country."  
  
I look to Sasuke and my lip trembles seeing his frown. "Oh Sasuke! I'm sorry! I forgot how traumatic that part was! I won't mention it again. Will you forgive me?" Alas Sasuke just has his plastic eyes looking elsewhere, almost indifferent to my words. I grin at this and squint my eyes tightly in fangirlish, Sakura-like glee. "OOH!! Sasuke you're so cool!"  
  
Regaining my composure I turn back to my "audience". "Anyway, the story was initially planned to be just a simple character-development fanfic, really. I had first started this fic because I was kinda getting upset over all the "weak Iruka" fanfics. Frankly I was getting irked that the dolphin sensei was being overlooked, underappreciated, underestimated and sometimes ignored altogether."  
  
If I didn't know better, I would think that Gaara's cold menacing, acrylic eyes seemed to glare at me with a slight sense of confusion. That or it could've been a scratch in the paint.  
  
"You don't know who Iruka is, Gaara? Well, Iruka was a very important figure in Naruto's life, but many authors simply place a blanket over the guy in favor of Sasuke or Kakashi." Suddenly I grab a red marker and a large poster board and begin to draw crappy flames on the surface then I set the board behind me to give the appearance of a fiery background. I raise my fists into the air and look at the ceiling with a determined expression on my face... one that could rival Gai-sensei's own trademark expression. "And I, being obsessively fanatic over the teacher, I decided I wasn't going to take the abuse any longer."  
  
Biting my lip, I clench my shaking fist to the air. Gushes of tears already flow down my cheeks from my unwavering declaration. I stay like this for a few moments before I run out of steam and let my posture drop.  
  
"And that's how this crap all started."  
  
Turning back to my co-hosts, I smile first to Sasuke, who was probably wishing to be somewhere other than here, and then I smile to Gaara. As I look towards the red-haired plushie I gasp ad I find him face down on the table. My face pales as I see this and I step back wearily.  
  
"Oh no.... He's fallen asleep! RUN!!" I scramble like a dyslexic hydra on the rampage and knock over my collection of manga, anime figures and pencil boards in my attempt to escape from *spoiler spoiler.* This continues for a minute or so before I tangle myself on my beaded curtain and knock myself, face first, to the wall. Wobbly stepping back I turn groggingly to the audience...  
  
"We'll be right back..."  
  
----------  
  
"Don't' glare at me like that, Sasuke! I thought it would be funny to have an intermission within an intermission!" I give my harshest stare at the Uchiha plushie, just daring him to defy my fabulous wit, only to have an equally harsh stare returned back. "Feh! You think you're so high and mighty... well guess what!? I think you're just a pompous arrogant little fu... er..." With slow, deliberate movements, I turn back towards the audience and give a little "eep" before standing upright and returning back to my genki form.  
  
"Ah! We're back!" I turn to hiss at the Sasuke Plushie. "Why didn't you tell me we were back on?" The plushie just gives me an indifferent expression which causes me to clench my fists in anger. "Don't think you're getting away from this that easily! Hmph!"  
  
With my smile back I turn to the audience. "I apologize for the scare earlier. Don't worry, we have everything under control." I turn to point to the Gaara plushie on the table. Guarding the ring-eyed plush is my Voltron action-set holding it's sword at the red-felt's back. To its left is a model of a scowling Dark Vash, aiming it's gun at Gaara-plushie's head and to the right rests Wolfwood, casually propped on his cross, casually aiming his own gun at the plush.  
  
"Hey! Where did Lina Inverse go? Dammit! Must have gone out with chibi-gourry for my pocky treasure again! Damn that woman! Oh well. Anyway, in this portion of the show, we get to respond to some reviews! Yay! C'mon guys join me!" I grab some maracas and place one in front Sasuke-plushie... who in turn just glares at it, hoping it's gaze will ignite the object on fire. I place the other in front of Gaara who looks at it with a curious yet cool and dark expression.  
  
"Shake, shake, chu chu! We're going to read some reviews!" I pause and sweatdrop. "Okay, even I admit that was lame." I turn and immediately glare at Sasuke. "Hmph! I know you're smirking! Little brat...."  
  
With a huff, I turn around and grab a page on the desk and try to ignore the raven, felt-haired doll.  
  
"Today's review comes from "Queen of Vegetasei," who brought up a good point about Gai being the resident expert of Taijutsu during Iruka's time (at least, the only one mentioned). The thing is, I don't think Iruka knew of him... heck, he didn't know of Kakashi until after the jounin was assigned to team 7. (Why else would Iruka have asked the Hokage about Kakashi's track record?) Also, Gai was probably just a few years older than Iruka at the time, and probably wasn't a jounin yet. Iruka had only asked the some of the elders... and probably knowing Iruka's track record... I don't think they would've been too fond talking to the mischievous prankster. Also, Iruka probably asked some of the families with those strong bloodlines who probably don't rely too much on taijutsu.  
  
"As for long distance attacks, that's where the shuriken and kunai come in, as well as any other projected attacks. I acknowledge the fact that shinobi do use attacks such as punches and kicks for close-range, but probably usually as a last resort. It takes time to fight hand to hand, and ninjas are more known for their swift killing techniques."  
  
With a game-show hostess smile, I turn back to my audience. "I hope that answers your question, Queenie. Now for the next review, who was from someone named "Iceheart19." Did you know your review made me cry... and laugh... at the same time? Are you REALLY just reading this for the hints?" Pressing her fists against her chin, she gives the audience a sad, kicked- puppy look... of course she fails miserably at that since she's no Kiba nor Akamaru, so instead just manages to pout. "You mean you're not reading it because of how awesome my story is? You wound me! I'm hurt... I'm... I'm... I'm over it. Ah well. At least I'm entertaining someone somehow." I laugh and give a "thumbs-up" sign... again taking after Gai-sensei. "Well, that's all the time we have for today. How about you two, do you Sasuke, or Gaara, have anything to contribute to the reviews?"  
  
Turning back to the table I see Sasuke lying on his back with the Voltron tipped over him, dogpiling him on the hard wooden surface. Vash is knocked to the side as well as Wolfwood and his ominous cross. Gaara, however, remains standing, and glaring.  
  
"Okay... this is creeping me out. Good night everyone." 


	6. 5 Going Home

Ranma crossover? I'm not even going to try to imagine how you came up with that. XD  
  
But still, Wow... I'm surprised most of you stayed after my brief bout of insanity in the intermission. Thank you everyone... *tears start gushing from her eyes again* It means so much! *squeaks* I won't cry... I won't cry!  
  
*composes herself* Anyway, first off, it was not until 30 minutes after I had posted that intermission did I remember the Hyuuga family. Damn... I mean, during the Chuunin exams with Neji and then with Hiashi-sama against that group of attackers? Damn those were awesome moves.  
  
Still, it would've been a moot point seeing as I doubt they would've taught poor Iruka-chan anything. If they undermine the branch family just because they were born second... just imagine someone who's not even IN the family. Ara Ara...  
  
Second, last night I was thinking to myself the possibilities for how this fanfic can go, if I added that "plot" thing everyone seems so set to have here. I wondered if I added this confound thing, would the story change? Would it be Yaoi? Non-Yaoi? AU? Coincide with Cannon Timeline?  
  
By 4:30 am, suffering from lack of sleep, I finally decided "Ah, screw it!" This fic has already diverged into a different story that I had planned (non-yaoi, coincide with cannon timeline), I'm just going to have fun and write whatever comes to mind as I have been doing already. Heheh... this may mean I'll have to change the summary soon. ^_~  
  
However, I'll still try to abstain from falling into clichés. (However I'm beginning to think this story is just one big cliché... Oh well.)  
  
Oh yeah... new warning: Increased use of gratuitous Japanese words and phrases ahead. Sorry, although brief, they are needed to help set the mood. Translations and definitions are given to some of the words... others, well it's best to look them up to get a better visual of them.  
  
With that said, let's continue with the story.  
  
Midnight confessions Chapter 5  
  
~~~***~~~  
  
"Naruto?"  
  
The blond boy paused in trying to grab Kakashi's book so that the silver-haired man could pay attention to him. Turning to his previous teacher, Naruto gave the dark-haired man a confused and slightly frustrated expression, wondering what was so important as to interrupt his task.  
  
"Naruto, I need you to go to the Hokage and give him a message for me. Tell him I won't be coming in today and to keep a substitute in hand for tomorrow in case I..."  
  
"Iruka..." The jounin interrupted. "Is this about your cheek? I'm sure no one will notice. Maybe Sakura could lend you some make up and we could have a little make-over! We could make you as pretty as a princess and..."  
  
Iruka interrupted the silver haired man with a fierce glare. "I think not, sensei..." He glared for a few more seconds at the chuckling jounin, and then spared a mock glare at the chuckling (and one minimally brooding) teens, almost trying to hold in his own smile. Shaking his head Iruka sighed, a grin now winning over the previous glare. "It isn't that. I got stings like these all the time when I was younger, it's nothing new. It'll be gone by the end of the day." Iruka took a moment to chuckle, imagining the look on the Hokage's face should the elder see another bruise on the chunin teacher's face after so many years of peaceful activity.  
  
Turning back towards Naruto, Iruka gave the boy a sad smile. "Naruto, would you please inform the Hokage that, although it's a bit early, I'll be heading off to the old home to clean up again."  
  
The remaining Team 7 members could only wonder in mild curiosity over the details of this vague conversation. Their curiosity was heightened even more so when they saw the change of the blond boy's demeanor. The boy's posture, and even his expression, had changed from arrogant and slightly mischievous (mostly from the thought of having a chance to tease the old man Hokage again) to a more subdued and slightly solemn expression. The boy gave Iruka a sad smile and nodded in affirmation.  
  
"Old home, sensei?" Both Sasuke and Kakashi gave an inward sigh of relief as Sakura voiced out their curiosity. After all, it wouldn't have done well for both their images if they shattered their silent demeanor with bombarding the teacher with their own questions. Iruka, however, wasn't about to give in so easily. Raising his hands up he shook them slightly as if to ward off the subject.  
  
"Oh it's nothing! Don't worry about it." Lightly grabbing Sakura and Kakashi by the shoulders, the teacher began to shoo the team out of his small apartment. "Anyway, I'm sure you all have some missions or some training you have to complete?" Pushing the team out the door, Iruka snuck back within the doorway and turned to them to give them a big smile. "Oh, and Naruto? Promise me you won't mention anything to them. Do a good job and I'll treat you to a bowl of ramen tonight. Have fun!"  
  
And with that, the door slammed shut before them, leaving one grinning boy and three disgruntled individuals outside in its wake. Shaking his head, the eldest of the group smiled within his covered mask and turned back to the door.  
  
"Oh he's good...."  
  
The team had now hopped from the balcony of the apartments and was now casually standing within the baking, mid-day streets of Konoha. Naruto's grin spread widely on his face. It was almost as if Iruka-sensei had given him his very own, personal mission. He knew what Iruka had been talking about when the man mentioned about the old home, and he also knew how much it meant to the teacher. Naruto felt that he would do anything to make his former sensei proud of him and complete this task no matter what. Especially since ramen was on the line.  
  
"Na-ru-to-kuuuuuuun?" A feminine voice, as sweet as mochi and warm as fresh ramen, sang melodiously behind the blond genin, interrupting the boy from his thoughts. Wearily, something within Naruto told him he should have been running for his life. With jerking motions, the whiskered boy turned towards his companions and paled at the scary expressions given back to him.  
  
Kakashi's single eye was shadowed with a look of intimidation. His chin had been tilted up slightly, giving the impression that he was looking at a small, worthless pile of peanuty-turd, whose purpose was to give the owner a slight sense of amusement just before it got flushed down the toilet. Sasuke, that bastard, was trying hard to imitate the same look, but rather just settled on a cold, focused gaze that got froze Naruto on the spot. However, the scariest of them all was Sakura's expression. She was not looking at the boy with malice nor intimidation, but rather she was looking at him with the most innocent expression that she could muster.  
  
Naruto's lips twitched in fear.  
  
Any other day and Naruto would have melted to have those turquoise eyes gazing upon him with such intensity, however perhaps it was the Kyuubi's own sense of self-preservation that made the boy tremble with the utmost of fear.  
  
At the moment, Sakura was giving the boy a look of hunger, a look that Naruto usually had when he had his first Ramen of the day. Huge, round, sparking, blue-green eyes turned menacing towards the blond genin. Within those soulful eyes lay a flash of intent stating that if the boy didn't do what this girl asked, there would be pain... oh yes, there would be pain.  
  
"Ne, Naruto-kun? What is this old house Iruka-sensei was talking about?"  
  
Gulping loudly the blond boy took a step back, trying to put some distance between him and his frightening teammates.  
  
'The mission! Think of the mission!' Said a voice that ran inside Naruto's conscious.  
  
Another voice then slowly came to focus with a tone that dripped like melted honey. 'But Sakura-chan's talking to me!'  
  
Shaking his head away from the love-sick voice, Naruto tried to steel his determination. 'Iruka-sensei would be so pissed if I said anything. Think of the ramen! Warm miso ramen!'  
  
"If you tell us, we'll give you two bowls of ramen."  
  
Instantly Naruto glared at the jounin for his temptation. Oh that just was evil! That was just plain cruel! That just... wasn't fair! Using his newfound frustration as motivation, Naruto took a leap backwards and pointed accusingly at the trio before him.  
  
"Nah-uh! No way! No way am I telling you guys, so you can just forget it!" With a loud huff, Naruto spun his heels and stormed off, stomping his way towards the offices where the Hokage was in.  
  
Kakashi let down his intimidating look and sighed. "At least we now know he'll be reliable when it comes to completing missions." Inwardly he told himself that someone had to do something about Naruto's loud character. Unfortunately he knew he had to be that "someone". How troublesome.  
  
"Now what, sensei?"  
  
Kakashi glanced at Sakura's disappointed look and gave a slight grin. His grin grew a bit wider when he turned to gaze at Sasuke. Although the boy was still carrying his "moody outlook," there was a slight increase of frustration in those features. In fact, one could almost say he was pouting if it weren't for the murderous, yet slightly aloof look to those dark eyes. It was kind of... cute... to realize that Mr. Prince of Moodiness still had a curious child-like personality under all that angst.  
  
"Well, I suppose until Naruto returns, we can start on today's training." Kakashi paused to take in the confused glances. He dropped his smile, which wouldn't have mattered anyway since his mask prevented many of his facial features to be hidden. With a smooth yet profound voice, Kakashi turned to his two students and gave them a meaningful look. "In certain missions, a ninja must know how to effectively gather the light while remaining in the shadows."  
  
Kakashi didn't say anything further, but there was no need to. He felt a slight surge of pride fill within him when within moments of speaking those words, Sakura and Sasuke's confused expressions shifted into a more amused and slightly mischievous one. Kakashi could trust these two to find the meaning behind his words. Turning his back to his students, he gave a slight nod and within seconds a swirl of air was all that was left of the three.  
  
~~  
  
"Hisashiburi desu ne, kaoku..." 'It's been a while, house' Iruka repeated to himself.  
  
Toeing his shoes off at the genkan entry, Iruka looked about into the slightly musty and abandoned former Umino home. The building had been one of the few homes, left in Konoha, that were designed in the traditional Japanese style. Complete with rice-paper fusuma doors and thick, yet slightly frayed, straw tatami mats, it was a modest size home, with two official bedrooms and a large living room that could be divided into a separate room with a well placed shoji screen. The kitchen was fairly small, but was large compared to that of his apartment's.  
  
Placing a bag full of cleaning supplies next to his discarded shoes, Iruka reached into the contents and pulled out some thick, toed socks. Slipping them on, he exited the entryway and stepped into the main room, making a short beeline towards one of the closets in the kitchen. There he found the rest of his needed supplies: brooms, dust-pans, buckets, rakes and a used apron.  
  
Having left his flack jacket back home, Iruka slipped the large, yellow apron over his worn-out, light blue sweatshirt and black sweatpants. Reaching into one of the pockets of the apron, he pulled out a faded, grey handkerchief and tied it over his head to prevent any dust from settling into his hair... and to keep his bangs from clinging onto his face.  
  
The work needed around the home wasn't much, compared to last year's work. There had been no major floods or storms that would have required some major work and fixing. Beginning from the inside, Iruka washed the surfaces of the cabinets in the kitchen and in the bathroom, scrubbed the furo clean of any gathering mold then began to sweep the mats free of accumulated dust. The mats themselves, although frayed from age, were still in good condition, and Iruka figured they could last another year or so.  
  
Toeing in some house slippers, Iruka then began to sweep the veranda surrounding the home. In contrast to the mats inside, the wood here looked weathered and worn to the point of splintering and cracking in some boards. Mostly it was perhaps due to the constant exposure to the sun.  
  
Returning back to the genkan, Iruka traded in his house slippers to his working sandals and ventured around the house to reach the back yard. Pausing in the middle of the garden, Iruka gave a nod of satisfaction from what he saw. The yard was well kept and weeded to prevent massive overgrowth. An elderly neighbor had taken it as her task to come once a week to tend the plants, despite the lack of occupants in the home.  
  
To Iruka, this woman was always known as "Baa-chan", which was somewhat of an embarrassment to him later on as he seemed to have forgotten her real name. Not that it mattered, she had later stated that she would have found it to be a great disservice should he call her by her real name rather than the nickname he had for years. He and "Baa-chan" had developed a strong friendship when he was a child, and it was this very same woman who cared for him the first few months after his loss.  
  
The woman, Iruka had found out through one of her famous "exaggerated stories", was an old mentor to his mother. They had kept their relationship strong throughout the years and were almost as close as family for how strong their bond was. When asked why the old woman would continue to tend to the garden, she would always reply that she was simply repaying a favor. When asked to further explain, the woman would simply tilt her head and smile at the frustrated Iruka.  
  
Taking a short break, Iruka carefully sat on the better areas of the veranda, outlying the house, and smiled. The yard was just as well cared for as always, which was a sign that the old woman was still doing well. He made a mental note to visit the woman later on should he get the chance. It had been a while since they swapped stories, and a good ear to talk to was always appreciated, especially one whom he was very fond of.  
  
It had now been at least more than an hour since he had started cleaning, which wasn't bad since it wasn't much work. The hot mid-day sun had cooled off slightly, welcoming the slight afternoon breeze. He was about to lean back and take a nap when, from a tree off to the corner of the garden, he saw a flash of shaded pink from within the leaves. He had felt the presence of no one nearby, so it couldn't have been Sakura since she had yet to perfect the art of fully concealing her chakara. No, this person was very good at concealment, which meant that they were somewhat higher than an experienced chunin.  
  
And he was having such a nice day.  
  
With his body slightly tensed in preparation, Iruka stepped away from the porch and focused his attention to the tree he saw the brief flash of color. He gave the tree an expectant glare, not saying a word in case it was only a trick of the eye he saw. It was times like these in which he would curse his over-sensitive sense of awareness, as it tended to make him slightly more paranoid than his health and nerves would have wanted.  
  
The wait only lasted a few moments before a deep, baritone sigh mixed with rustling of leaves within the slight breeze. A presence could now be felt, although it was still relatively small. Iruka's guard went up more at this, readying himself for an attack, his fingers itching to sink into his holster pack on his thigh and pull out a few shuriken just in case.  
  
"You're too good at this game, Iruka-sensei. You're no fun anymore." A soft ruffle of the grass was all the sound that was heard as Kakashi leaped away from the tree and landed a few feet before the dark-haired teacher. Iruka's fingers twitched now, eager to seriously pull out a shuriken, but now for different reasons.  
  
"How long have you been watching?" The younger man asked, his posture not relaxing in the slightest, and his expectant glare had grown slightly irritated. Kakashi, feeling the tension within the other man, rose his hands up in a surrendering gesture then placed his fingers on his masked chin as if in mock-thought.  
  
"Let's see... officially... not more than an hour I suppose." Kakashi tried to put on a disarming expression, tilting his head to the side and letting his shown eye curve in merriment. However, Iruka took no notice at this since his eyes were clenched in frustration. An hour and he hadn't picked up on anything while he was being followed nor while he was cleaning? Despite it all, Iruka's respect for the jounin's level rose a few more notches up, yet it disappointed him in the idea that those awe- inspiring skills were used to satisfy such a childish curiosity. Then again, he should have known better. Ninjas, if anything, were natural-born gossipers, and it was almost in their blood to stick their noses in other's businesses. Taking a deep breath, the teacher let out a bit of pent up steam and looked about.  
  
"I see... where are the others? I'm surprised I can't sense them around. Either they've improved dramatically, or I'm getting shoddy in my skills. I'm thinking more of the latter since I could not sense you for an hour."  
  
"You weren't supposed to." Kakashi grinned briefly at the displeased chuunin before turning back to face the direction of Hokage mountain, hands in his pockets in a leisurely pose. "As for those three... hopefully they're still on their wild goose chase. Naruto saw 'me' following him, so I'm pretty sure he's trying to chase them off his tail. It should give us a few more minutes alone to talk."  
  
Iruka just stared, with narrowed-eyed query, at the grinning jounin before him. The man was planning something, but Iruka had no clue as to what. Nothing logical could come to his mind as to why Kakashi had sent a clone of himself to deliberately delay the three. Not that he didn't somewhat appreciate it; Iruka had enjoyed the quiet and tranquility so far. Of course it would have been better if they didn't plan to spy on him on the first place.  
  
"There is nothing really to talk about. What's done is done, and I don't hold any hard feelings towards you. If it makes you feel better, I apologize for what I said last night. I was exhausted and I wasn't thinking clearly, but that is still no excuse for my actions. Now, perhaps you should find your team and dismiss them for the day at least. As you can see, there really is nothing overly special about this house. It is just an old, abandoned house waiting for some new owners. It was one of my missions as a Genin to care for the home until it was sold... mostly this was done for added income. As you can see, no one lives here just yet, so my mission is still not complete."  
  
"Well then... maybe I should buy it then."  
  
~~~  
  
Buahahaha! Cliffhanger!! Okay sorry, but no worries... next chapter comes out tomorrow, promise! I know this because I only have two more pages left before completion. I was having a block, but now, due to the stress of finals.... I had a splurge of writing!  
  
I really should be studying now... but I can't... the Muse compels!!  
  
Again, thank you for your reviews, they had been my motivation to break my block!! 


	7. 6 Photos and Memories

Sorry for the delay people. I know I sorta promised this chapter the day after I posted chapter 5, but slight complications arose.  
  
First off were finals... but those are done now. Second, well... I was confused where I was leading this fic. It wasn't meant to have any direction, and was just a character-interpretation type story that meant nothing. A "plot without point" you could say.  
  
However, it's settled for the time being, thanks to my new pre-reader Yanslana-chan! (Though I know she's pre-reading this due to a hidden agenda... one that deals with part three of this story which is already in it's blueprint stage.)  
  
Yeah, this story is ending soon...most likely by the next chapter. Hehehe... 6 chapters and I still haven't made any yaoi-ness? XD Gomen! ;;  
  
Well... well see what happens, until then, enjoy!  
  
Midnight Confessions  
  
Chapter 6  
  
---  
  
"Well then... maybe I should buy it then."  
  
Iruka froze at these words, but other than a slight stiffening of his back, he tried to control his expressions as Kakashi continued. "It's not a bad house, and the location isn't so bad either. It's next to the river, not too far from the village, yet secluded from the noise. It's roomy, well kept- thank you very much, sensei- and I suppose after completing a couple of A and B missions, not to mention that it's been in the market for so long... this house here easily afforded with a jounin's salary. What more could guy like me ask for?"  
  
Iruka had been long prepared for anyone to have purchased his home. In fact, he had welcomed the idea. This was most likely due to the reason that the house would once again be filled by some individual or family and they would most likely be able to take care of the building more frequently than the teacher could. However... however something about the notion of Kakashi owning this home sent Iruka's hackles rising. He so very wanted to glare at Kakashi and flatly told him that it wasn't for sale for him, but decided against the idea. As the other man said, he could easily afford it with his salary, something that Iruka had been painstakingly trying to accomplish with his meager chunin pay. Not that it helped his financial situation that he constantly treated Naruto out for ramen once or three times a week.  
  
With a sigh, the teacher turned to the older teacher and gave a nonchalant shrug, then stretched his lips in a makeshift smile. "Well, if you're interested in it that much, you should perhaps take it up with Hokage-sama. I have no say to that matter."  
  
For a few tense moments, Kakashi stared at the pony-tailed man before giving a shrug of his own. "Aaa..." he quietly confirmed, as to what, Iruka couldn't fathom. "Anyway, that isn't what I wanted to talk about. Normally I could care less, but it's providing too much of a distraction, and I don't like that. So how about we make a deal? You answer my questions, and..."  
  
"... And you'll leave me alone?" Iruka completed hopefully. Kakashi let out a small chuckle in response.  
  
"Nice try, Iru-kun." Iruka's face switched from placid curiosity to a more irritated glare.  
  
"I told you not to call me that...." Kakashi, nearly feeling the glare almost burn him, simply gave off a humored chuckle and rose his hands up in defeat. After all, if he needed the chunin to answer his questions, he'd have to first get on his good side really.  
  
"Hai, hai! Sorry, forgot!" Of course, with the tone given by the jounin, Iruka was sure that the man before him was neither sorry nor did he forget, still the brown-haired man sighed and looked away as if dismissing the matter.  
  
"So...."  
  
"So?" Kakashi repeated in mock innocence, which only caused Iruka to growl slightly.  
  
"I mean, if I answer your questions, what would you do in return?" The chunin decided he had enough of all this. This whole ordeal was exhausting on his nerves. Whatever it was that the other man asked, he would answer it. He didn't care much anymore as long as it meant the silver-haired man would stop annoying him... at least for today.  
  
Silence was the only thing that answered for the moment. Iruka glanced at Kakashi expectantly only to receive a content expression on the mostly-covered man's face. Keeping silent, Kakashi unzipped his flack jacket halfway and pulled out an item from one of the hidden pockets. It was a small, thin sheet of glossy paper: A photo to be exact. Cautiously wondering if it had been a candid photo of him in the buff, Iruka carefully took the picture from Kakashi's allowing fingers, and let out a gasp at the image.  
  
It was a slightly faded and worn picture that easily showed its age from the frayed and creased corners. Still, despite the photo's age, it was relatively well cared for, given the jounin's activities. In the center of the image stood a masked, silver-haired boy, who was glaring lazily at the camera. Definitely Kakashi when he was younger, Iruka thought, but he wasn't the one who made the teacher gasp. Behind the boy stood a young man, giving a forced and uncomfortable grin at the camera. It was obvious that the man had been coerced into taking the picture. However, despite that, the man still bothered to pose for the image, with one hand on his hip, and the other hand doing a "V" sign behind the boy. The 'Leaf' brand hitai-ate, which was looked like it had seen better days, was tied loosely around the man's neck.  
  
The man had appeared to be in his thirties or late twenties. He was athletic in his frame, (probably due to years of practice in taijutsu), but despite this the man still carried with him a boyish look to his features. The standard flack jacket was unzipped and showed off the traditional dark, black ninja sweatshirt and pants underneath. Black, unruly, short hair, frayed by the wind, glowed with the position of the sun above them, giving the man a haloed effect. The feature that captured the most attention from the person, however, were the man's stormy, blue-grey eyes.  
  
What Iruka saw in those eyes saddened him; they looked as if they were the eyes of one that had experienced a great loss and betrayal. They were windows to his soul, holding all of the man's feelings and emotions, yet hiding them in vain, as they couldn't help but express everything through those orbs. The creases around his eyes spoke a silent story of fatigue and hardships that no one should have experienced, yet although the blueness of those eyes seemed dull from the experience, they still manage to sparkle slightly with tenderness and a touch of arrogance.  
  
Iruka knew these eyes, and he knew them well. He remembered, when he himself had been a child, that should he ever want to know what this man was feeling, he would always look into those expressive blue eyes that showed everything the body and face was determined to hide. Whether it was cautious trust to a fellow team member or the unconditional love and pride that would stare back at Iruka's own brown eyes, the chunin knew these eyes and the stories they would tell.  
  
"Tousan..." Iruka whispered with a quivering voice.  
  
The man in the picture had indeed been Iruka's father. There had been little to no pictures of the older man, due to his secretive nature. Since the man was a former ANBU, it was quite understandable. The few pictures that Iruka did have were mostly candid shots, and even then they were not in the best of focus. Iruka had once made it a game to try to photograph his father, and the man, in return, would constantly manage to somehow shadow his face with an object, person or simply leave a blurred afterimage. It didn't help that Iruka had been seven or eight when he went on this photo-shooting spree before he gave up entirely. To have this photo would almost make Iruka's life complete, at least that's what he felt at the moment. All the images the chunin teacher had of his father were merely memories and some crayoned drawings when he was five.  
  
Breaking away from his memories, Iruka shook his head in negation. This was Kakashi's photo, he told himself. It was Kakashi himself on this picture, and while that brought a flash of jealousy in Iruka, he figured that it must have meant something to him as well if the jounin had continued to keep possession of this photo for so very long.  
  
"So..." Iruka paused, trying to strengthen his voice again. "You knew my father?" Iruka held back the photo towards the silver-haired man, but was seemingly ignored as Kakashi's attention turned towards the darkening sky.  
  
"Aaa... It was back when I was still at the academy. Since school was getting so easy for me, they decided to assign a specialized jounin to be my personal instructor. In fact, that picture was our 'class photo', so that's why we were able to get a clear shot of him, in case you were wondering. Anyway, he always managed to make school challenging, and I enjoyed it. Yet despite those few years that I knew him as my sensei, I didn't know anything else about him." Kakashi paused and turned to smile at the man beside him. "One thing I did know for certain was that he had been a great teacher, one of the rare people I admired at that time. You take after him in that."  
  
Iruka shifted uncomfortably in his place beside the jounin, a dark blush surfacing on the man's face from the praise and comparison to the great man that was his father. Those words made him feel happy, causing his throat to tighten slightly from the other emotions he was feeling. Still, it wouldn't do to cry before the jounin. What would Kakashi think of him if he compared the stern, dedicated, ex-ANBU teacher of old...to the whimpering, weak, chunin instructor before him? Yes, Kakashi would probably be severely disappointed, if not disgusted. Calming down his emotions, Iruka glanced longingly at the image held securely within his tanned hands.  
  
During the silence, Kakashi lazily folded his arms behind his head and leaned back to rest on the veranda, somehow managing to avoid the splinters from the wood from sticking to his skin and clothing.  
  
"And now, you're willing to give up this, in trade of a few simple questions?" That was the part that Iruka was still incomprehensive about. According to the silver-haired man, Iruka's father meant a lot to the older boy. It didn't seem a fair trade to exchange that for only a few questions.  
  
"Oh I never said they were 'simple questions'. I plan to make you work for it!" At this Kakashi's humored expression seemed to grow slightly mischievous, causing the younger man to become slightly uncomfortable in worry. "I kept an eye at you for a while. I mean, I only learned about you after the death of my former sensei. I suppose I had been out of the loop with all my missions." Suddenly, Kakashi paused in his little narration. With a sigh he stood and stuffed his hands in his pockets. Iruka, curious about the sudden change of mood stood as well, giving the jounin a questioning look. "We'll discuss this later," was all the silver-haired man said before going still quiet.  
  
Wondering what had brought Kakashi's guard up, Iruka opened his mouth to ask the silver-haired man what the problem was when instead the teacher leaped back to avoid something as it shot right across the already scarred man's nose. Narrowly missing a brush against the tanned man's skin and embedding itself deep into a wooden plank that framed the home, Iruka was then able to see what had been thrown at him; a kunai.  
  
"You idiot! Watch where you're aiming that!" Iruka trailed his eyes over to the direction where the high-pitched voice came from. Just over the short wall surrounding the home, he saw Sakura slam her fist down on Naruto's head. Looking about, Iruka then saw Sasuke perched upon the wall, glaring back at the two fighting teens.  
  
Breaking out of his shock, Iruka breathed in deeply and with an eerie tone, like the wind of a tornado through a small crack of a building, the teacher let out a fearful howl at the blond boy.  
  
"NA-RUU-TOOO!" The tone caused more damage than any other smacks or hits the teacher would have otherwise shelled out. The mere implication of danger (and perhaps a long lecture), within the teacher's tone, had caused the said boy to let out a loud squeak of fear and hide behind the pink- haired girl.  
  
Heaving out a big sigh, Iruka brought his fingers to rub at the bridge of his nose, trying to relieve a bit of tension. Turning back to the jounin, mostly for a bit of support or perhaps the sympathy and understanding with having to deal with Naruto, Iruka saw that Kakashi instead had a highly-amused expression glared back at the teacher, which didn't help Iruka's mood much.  
  
"Waah! Iruka-sensei! This house is beautiful!" Sakura was now looking around the yard. The girl then crouched down to coo at two stone statues of a piglet and a chicken (or perhaps it was a duck) that were placed next to an empty pond.  
  
Iruka couldn't help but smile at those words. His smile increased when he saw that even Sasuke was gazing about the property with curious eyes. Sasuke was gazing about the property with curious eyes, eyeing a stack of weather-worn bricks and an equally worn wooden post with interest, which had been abandoned next to a small protruding building off to the side of the house.  
  
"Well... I suppose it can't be helped. Would you like a tour of the place?"  
  
Naruto simply grinned in response and folded his arms behind his head. He already knew a bit about the home after having been persuaded to help Iruka clean it several times. Sakura had let out an ecstatic squeal to see more of the home. Inwardly the girl was bringing up fantasies of her and Sasuke living in a home similar to this; in those dreams, she would be the ever so doting housewife to cook, clean and... and... well, some fantasies were meant to remain hidden. Sasuke, on the other hand, simply shrugged. The fact that the boy had hopped off from the wall and started heading towards Iruka's direction showed that he too was at least slightly curious. Iruka finally turned towards Kakashi for the older man's response, but instead found the jounin's attention turned elsewhere. Oh well, Iruka shrugged, if the man wanted to follow, Iruka knew he could do nothing to stop him.  
  
Calling over his shoulder to remove their shoes before stepping on the mats, Iruka lead the group inside. Iruka started from the dinning room, from which they've entered then made their way towards the kitchen. Exiting back to the dinning room, they then made their way to the master bedroom. Afterwards he showed them the second bedroom, which had been converted from what was once the living room. The last formal room in the home was the bathroom, which had been styled in the traditional manner with a separate room for the toiletries and a separate room for the large shower area.  
  
Iruka then led them through a long hallway that branched out of the home and connected itself to a small separate building, which was the one Sasuke had eyed earlier. Sliding open the screen door at the end of the hallway, Iruka lowered his head in a nod then stepped into the slightly darkened room. The room had been different from all the other rooms, in that there were no mats, but rather donned wooden flooring.  
  
"And, last but not least, this is the dojo." Iruka concluded, watching his previous students stare, in wide-eyed curiosity, at empty room. Iruka was pleased to know that the polish for the wood had not faded entirely. Perhaps that had been due to the fact that no one had stepped foot into the room since his last visit. At least the floor was still in good condition, compared to the back porch.  
  
"Ne, sensei? I wanted to ask you, when we passed by the bath, there were some unfinished staircases, but this house doesn't have a second floor, at least... it didn't look that way from outside."  
  
Iruka glanced down at the girl, and gave her a small sad smile. Glancing back up, his eyes seemed to daze about, as if conjuring up a strong memory.  
  
"There was supposed to be a second floor, at least from what I remember. There were to be three rooms, side to side, and an extra room used for guest room. However, those steps, that are unfinished, will forever remain unfinished. The one who built this home died long ago, and sadly the blueprints were all in the man's head."  
  
"I was wondering why the design was a bit different from other homes around. Sensei, you seem to know a lot about this home. Did you know the owner as well?"  
  
"I should hope so that I knew the owner." Iruka simply chuckled, giving the girl a mysterious grin. "He was the same man who built the home. It was a hobby for the man when he wasn't out in missions. Ah, but it's getting late; you guys should head back now, that is unless Kakashi- sensei has some other task for you to do."  
  
Weary eyes turned to glance back at the silver-haired jounin, but they were only rewarded with a casual shrug in response. Taking it as an affirmative, Iruka then started shooing everyone out of the room and to head back to the exit where they left their shoes. The sun had now begun to set, signaling that they had survived another day. Taking one last look at the sunset-tinted home, Iruka gave a soft smile before turning back and exiting the gates, locking it behind him since he was the last to leave.  
  
"Iruka-sensei?"  
  
Looking over his shoulder, Iruka saw Naruto waiting for him. The boy was giving him a sheepish grin while rubbing his hand behind his blond, shaggy hair.  
  
"Anou-sa, anou-sa... Iruka-sensei?" Naruto paused, seeming a bit nervous and embarrassed in his actions. Iruka simply stood there, watching the boy patiently until enough nerve was gathered. Opening his mouth, Naruto was about to again address the teacher when a loud grumble was heard from the blond-boy's midsection.  
  
"I see..." Iruka chuckled, mostly at the sheepish, red-faced expression on the younger boy's features. Halting his good humor, Iruka then turned his eyes down to stare almost coldly at the boy before him, rubbing his own chin as if in serious thought. "I don't know, I mean, you didn't exactly complete the mission as I asked you to. As a ninja, if you do not complete your task, you should not expect to be recompensed for your deeds. I'm sorry Naruto."  
  
"I understand sensei..." Naruto's head lowered in disappointment and gave off a big sigh. With a downcast expression, he then turned around and began to shuffle his feet back towards the village before he heard his teacher's voice stop him in his tracks.  
  
"Of course... that isn't to say I can't treat one of my favorite ex- students for dinner as he tells me some stories of him and his new team... after all, that's entirely a different matter."  
  
Naruto's head snapped back to stare at the now grinning chunin. The smile seemed infectious as the boy's lips curved into one of the widest grins the teacher ever saw. In fact, Iruka had to try to hold in his laughter as he saw the boy jump up and shout in celebration. Shaking his head, Iruka then lead the way down the path back to Konoha, with a bouncing bundle of yellow and orange energy trailing eagerly behind him, for a nice bowl (or three) of ramen..  
  
---  
  
This could be a great stopping point for the fic, but I promised Yanslana I'd do an additional chapter. This is fine by me seeing as the next chapter has another "confession" Iruka tells Kakashi. XD  
  
Your reviews have helped me break from my block, and I appreciate each and every one of you who has read my story! Please tell me what you think so far! 


	8. 7a HisStory

Mostly, I'm updating this because it has now been an entire month since I submitting anything to you guys! My most sincere apologies! kow-tows

This is it, everyone! The Final chapter..... HOWEVER... it kinda grew a bit too long... In fact, it's now about 20 pages and still growing so I had to seperate it into three parts, with the third part still growing. uu;;

Gotta love the Hibiki school of fictional writing...

Anyway, I'm only submitting part A because it's the only chapter that had been fully reviewed by my pre-reader, Yanslana (who is currently in vacation at the moment, so the other chapters are still unrefined.) We'll probably have the rest by the end of this week or by next week at the most. Alright?

Anyway, I would like to thank everyone who had stuck with this fic for so long. Extra huggles and stuffs to my reviewers who have motivated me to continue. I would also like to dedicate this story to all those authors out there who wrote their stories centered on Iruka! You guys are my inspiration, my idols, and my reasons for procrastinating too much! XD

Now, enough with the Oscar Moments, and on with the fic!

Midnight Confessions  
  
Chapter 7a  
  
---  
  
They came back home safely today.  
  
For Umino Iruka, that had been the best news he received in more than a week. Initially, he had tried not to worry himself; it wasn't uncommon for a mission to up itself in rank overnight. According to his sources, what was originally a C-class mission had suddenly turned into a B or an A- class within a few hours.  
  
The fact that this was a team, fresh from the academy, with barely only a few D-rank missions under their belt, and consisted of a motley group of individuals didn't help his nerves much. What had helped him quell some of his worry was the fact that a highly elite jounin had been supervising the team.  
  
For those few days of Team 7's mission to the Wave Country, Iruka had tried to busy himself by finishing grading his papers, teaching at the academy, then using whatever spare time available to assist the Hokage in assigning missions to other shinobi of the village.  
  
He had also volunteered to work at the assigning room to, hopefully, gather some new information about Team 7; however, hardly anything had came regarding their status. All he knew was that the infamous Zabuza, a missing nin of the Hidden Mist, had also been involved.  
  
Still, his surfeit amount of work made him exhausted enough that he was blessed with dreamless sleeps those days, rather than the shifting worrisome nights he knew he'd have if he gave the matter another moment's thought. Of course, those dreamless nights didn't help him feel well- rested in the mornings, but rather made him more lethargic than the days before. It was as sacrifice he was willing to make if he wanted to maintain his sanity.  
  
Shaking his head, Iruka took in a deep breath to gather back his wits after allowing his mind to wonder. Thanks to his "devotion" to working overtime, he was booked solid with report filing for the next few hours. He had been placed at the recording office, so it was in his best interest to concentrate on his task.  
  
Inwardly, Iruka had been hoping to have greeted Kakashi when he and his group returned, but they had, instead, went to the Hokage themselves to give their report. And afterwards, all four had left to their individual homes to take the rest of the day off. Not that the action surprised him, though he was slightly disappointed that they didn't stop by to at least say 'hello'.  
  
Iruka paused in his wonderings, internally ruminating over as to why was he "disappointed" when he had no right to. It was most likely that the team was exhausted from their travels. There had also been the rumor that Kakashi had been bed-ridden for a few days due to injury during the mission. The mission had been successful, and Kakashi himself gave the report himself to the Hokage, so it couldn't have been that grave, could it?  
  
But the matter still disturbed Iruka slightly. Just how bad was the mission that Kakashi managed to get himself wounded? Was it guilt that Iruka was feeling? Although it wasn't him who personally gave the team their assignments, and add to the fact that the upshot of the mission was of a complete surprise to everyone... there was a little nagging voice, in the back of Iruka's head, that lamented that he had been indirectly responsible for their wellbeing. That little voice was strong in its own sense, for it seemed to have torn a hole into a dam of "what if..."s to swarm within Iruka's mind, many of them trailing with them grave and morbid images of the beloved team.  
  
"Enough..."  
  
Inwardly, that one word had been shouted loudly, echoing into deepest caverns of Iruka's psyche, outwardly it was rendered as a small hiss of breath, drawing the attention of his co-workers. At the moment Iruka cared not for the curious looks the shinobi within the room, he was just too distracted with his own thoughts. However, perhaps it was due to his "audience" that the chuunin teacher restrained from slapping himself to break free from his disheartening thoughts.  
  
'Enough,' Iruka repeated quietly to himself. 'It does me no good to worry about something that has already passed. They're fine now, and that is all that matters.' Idly shuffling the paperwork together, Iruka refocused his attention back to his work. He was almost done with his tasks, and it appears that, for the first time this week, he'll be leaving earlier than usual. Of course, it would still be an hour after everyone's shifts were done, but for him, it would be early.  
  
When the paperwork had been reviewed, signed and filed away, Iruka blissfully leaned back in his chair and gave a tired, but content sigh. With a smile, the chuunin relaxed his shoulders and allowed the day's stresses to seep away from his tired limbs. Tilting his neck to the side, he stretched his taunt neck muscles and reached a heavy arm to squeeze his shoulder, easing the soreness away. Scooting away from his desk, Iruka stood and stretched his legs, trying to re-circulate blood back into them.  
  
Whoever said "office-work" was easier than being in the field, hadn't craned over a pile of documents, while sitting on a stiff, posturepedic, wooden chair for more than ten hours straight.  
  
In a few moments, Iruka had cleared his stuff from the surface while pushing the chair under the desk with his foot. Making his way towards the door, he flicked off the lights, and then exited the room, humming lightly to himself.  
  
Stepping out into the evening air, Iruka took in a deep breath and smiled at the sunset-tinted village. Idly, he wondered if he would meet up with Naruto on his way home and perhaps invite the boy for a bowl of ramen. If not, he could always make something quick at home. A few days ago, Iruka had taken a trip to the Ichiraku to enjoy a bowl during Naruto's absence. However, it just wasn't the same without Naruto's loud character to accompany the meal. Even the owner had noticed the slight change of the atmosphere.  
  
"Hmm," Pausing in his march, Iruka began to rummage through the pockets of his vest, searching for his stash of funds. "I need to make sure if I have enough in the first place." As he emptied one of the inner pockets within the sturdy green fabric, a piece of paper fluttered down to the ground. Suspending his search, Iruka leaned over to pick up the fallen object and let out a tired sigh as he recognized the item: Kakashi's picture.  
  
"Well, it looks as if the ramen will have to wait. I should give this back to Kakashi-sensei." Iruka's fingers played with the frayed right corner of the photo. He did not want to give the photo back, but he had remembered the conditions in which he would be allowed to keep the photo. Only if he answered a few questions, Kakashi had stated, would he be allowed to possess this treasured item. Unfortunately, they were interrupted before the jounin had a chance to ask anything from the chuunin teacher. Iruka sighed and looked up at the lightly-speckled purple sky above. A deal was a deal, right?  
  
"Of course, now I only need to find out where Kakashi lives." With another sigh, Iruka carefully stuffed the picture into one of his pockets, looked down towards the pebbled road and began his way back to the record's office to look up the address for Team 7's instructor. Just as he was about to take a step forward, he felt a cold shiver run up his spine, followed by an all-to-familiar low and bored voice rumbling over his left shoulder.  
  
"Oh? Planning to stalk me? Never knew you were the type, Iru-kun." Startled, the chuunin turned his head to face the owner of the voice, and immediately staggered back a few steps as the close-up view of a single- eyed jounin filled his vision.  
  
"Ka... Kakashi! What are you...? How did...? How many times have I told you to never call me that?!"  
  
The man merely let out a soft chuckle as he raised his hands up defensively towards the angered teacher. Iruka responded with a harsh glare and turned away, intent on storming his way home to get away from the impudent man. He managed to stomp away a couple of feet away from the still amused jounin, when he remembered that just a few moments ago he was adamant to find the older man. Bringing a hand over to cover his face in self-pity, and to ward off the oncoming migraine, Iruka let out a sigh to vent out his earlier frustration. Why did Kakashi always bring out the worst in him?  
  
With another sigh and shake of his head, Iruka dug into his pants pocket and pulled out the photo of a younger version of Kakashi, standing before the man Iruka knew as his father, and thrust the picture towards the now surprised jounin.  
  
"Here. I believe this still belongs to you."  
  
Kakashi looked down at the photo, then back towards the chuunin before him. All pretense of amusement gone from the silver-haired man's face, even his posture became slightly rigid in seriousness. Turning away from the younger man, Kakashi slowly tilted his head to glance at Iruka over his shoulder.  
  
"Follow me."  
  
Iruka allowed his curiosity to get the better of him and followed the rapidly departing jounin as he vaulted silently over the rooftops of the village. Nary was a sound heard by the two talented shinobi, as both made their way across the village and bounded towards the outskirts, away from prying ears.  
  
Soon, the jounin paused in his tracks, allowing the lesser- experienced ninja to catch up and pause by the other man. Confused, Iruka blinked at the jounin, a silent question evident within his chocolate brown eyes. Where exactly did Kakashi want to lead him to? This spot was nothing special. They were only half a mile away from the center of the village; close enough to be able to return back to home territory if needed, but just far enough to distance themselves from any interruptions.  
  
"Kakashi-sensei?"  
  
Almost as if ignoring the inquiry, Kakashi leapt down from the tree branch and sat himself against the sturdy trunk of the tree he was previously perched upon.  
  
"This looks like a good enough place, don't you think?"  
  
Following the other man's example, Iruka hopped from the branch and landed quietly in front of the silver-haired jounin. However, unlike the older man, Iruka did not sit down, but rather stood before the other man, giving Kakashi a questioning glare.  
  
"Kakashi....Where is this place? Why did you drag me all the way out here?"  
  
"Oh? Now it's just 'Kakashi', my my, aren't we being a bit forward? I know it's a dark and secluded place, but please try to control yourself, Iruka-sensei." Kakashi chuckled as a dark, embarrassed blush surfaced over the gentle teacher... however his mirth soon turned into nervousness as Kakashi felt the other's "killing intent" surface, brighter than the glowing tint on the younger man's face.  
  
Clearing his throat, Kakashi paused with his laughter, and tilted his head up to glance up at Iruka. "Right... anyway, as I said before, if you wanted to keep the picture, all I asked of you was to answer some questions for me. Unless of course, you aren't feeling up to it, but then I'll have to ask for the picture back."  
  
"Despite what you say... you're not exactly leaving me with much of a choice." Iruka sighed once more, slowly sitting down onto the grassy floor, facing the incommodious jounin. Would Kakashi be asking more about Iruka's father? The man whom he had loved and admired, yet, a part of him had remained a stranger in Iruka's eye. He was a wonderful father who cared for Iruka, but the chuunin could recall moments of darkness within the man that smeared his otherwise perfect childhood. Memories that he had wished to forget, buried away into the deep recess of his mind. Taking a deep breath, the brunette readied himself for whatever inquiry he was to face from the silver-haired one. "Alright, I'm ready... what is it that you wish to know from me?"  
  
"Hmmm..." Kakashi looked up at the clear, night sky above and tapped his forefinger upon his chin as if in thought. "I guess my first question would be... what is your favorite hobby?"  
  
Iruka fell forward slightly in surprise to the random and, what was in his own opinion, a quite pointless question. Looking at the jounin incredulously, he couldn't help but gape at the smiling man before him.  
  
"Excuse me? You dragged me all the way out here so you can ask as to what my interests are?"  
  
"Do you want the picture or not?" Kakashi's amusement rose as, with the assistance of the full-moon's light, he was clearly able to see the patient, respectable chuunin teacher fold his arms in front of him and give a pout big enough to rival Naruto whenever the boy was assigned another D- rank mission.  
  
"If you really MUST know... I enjoy a nice, healing soak in an open hot spring. Are we done now?"  
  
"What's your hurry, Iruka-kun? Don't worry, I won't ask any 'embarrassing questions'. Just try to relax." Folding his arms behind to pillow his head, Kakashi leaned back against the tree and curved his eye towards the frustrated younger man. "Next question; what is your favorite food?"  
  
Giving a suffering sigh, Iruka dropped his hands to press his palms against the ground, allowing his fingers to grip tightly at the soft, moist strands protruding from the rocky soil. He supposed he should be counting his blessings that these questions weren't as 'torturous' as he first imagined. One thing was for sure, Ibiki-sensei wasn't the only jounin here who seemed to enjoy spitefully interrogating his subjects.  
  
"For that, I would have to say ramen, specifically from Ichiraku."  
  
"Aahh... So you're the one I should blame for his obsession with ramen?"  
  
Iruka chuckled lightly, taking a playful guess at whom Kakashi was referring to. Turning his eyes down to the ground, Iruka mentally conjured several fond and amusing instances of his outings with Naruto at the Ichiraku, more specifically, their latest visit and Naruto's inquiry over that "special technique." He was startled out of his musings as Kakashi continued.  
  
"Your bond with Naruto... it's more than a typical teacher-student bond. I'm mostly curious as how that came to be..." Kakashi looked up to the blinking chuunin and narrowed his visible eye at him. His expression was suddenly cold and sharp, almost like steel to coincide with the color of the pupil, causing the brown-haired man to shiver slightly from the intimidating look. "...Especially given your tragic backgrounds. One would expect you to hold the most contempt towards him."  
  
Turning away from the cold stare, Iruka bit his lip to hold back the slight whimper that threatened to escape his lips. He knew what the man was indirectly asking. "Why did you hold such fondness over someone who held the creature that killed your parents?"  
  
Iruka knew that explaining this to Kakashi would be much more difficult than it had been with Mizuki. Shifting uncomfortably, Iruka thought hard to come up with a delay tactic. He searched through his memory to come up with anything to distract the other, just so he wouldn't have to answer that question.  
  
"If anyone needed to answer that question, it would be you, Kakashi- sensei, or did your pasts not coincide as tragically as it had for mine?"  
  
If Kakashi really excelled in "finding the underlying meanings," it would have been clear to him that Iruka knew that the jounin had been taught under the late Yondaime himself. The chuunin had remembered back when he read over Kakashi's record with the Sandaime, when discussing over the jounin's track record. If anyone should have held contempt over Naruto, it was Kakashi.  
  
Iruka's tactic seemed to have worked as Kakashi paused in his glare, his expression changed to one of wide-eyed surprise. However the victory over the jounin was short lived as the grey, steel-like eye closed in amusement and a wagging finger was thrust in front of the chuunin.  
  
"Now now! I'm the one asking the questions here, remember? But nice try though."  
  
Well, Iruka thought, it had been worth a shot. Heaving a huge sigh, the pony-tailed teacher shifted to a more comfortable position and tilted his head back to stare at Kakashi.  
  
"Fine, I will answer your question. However, I believe I must start when I first met Naruto." Iruka gave the older man a soft, fond smile as he leaned back, propping himself on his elbows against the soft, plush grass. "It was a week before the Chuunin exams. I was sixteen at the time and Mizuki was seventeen at that time. We were both determined to graduate this time around, and believing so, we had deemed that this would be our final week as Genins. In retrospect, the two of us went out to cause as much childish mayhem as we could get away with..."  
  
---  
  
Author notes:

Acquired from a translation of the Naruto Character Data Book (NCDB), these are certain facts about Iruka. He does indeed like Ramen from Ichiraku and his hobby/interest is soaking in onsens. How cute, eh? (I had once read from another source that he liked seafood ramen, but it's not official, so I didn't put it up. For those who are curious, his least favorite food is Random Mix Rice [Sliced Shoots, mushroom, carrot, etc over rice or mixed seafood over rice.])

I'm starting to believe this is becoming an AU on it's own (especially in the next part) despite my attempts to keep it as much In-Character as I can. Oh well, everyone has their own interpretations of what happened, and as long as Masashi Kishimoto-sensei comes out with the "truth" of their history, it's all speculation.


	9. 7b Konoha's 1 prankster

Okay... Iruka's behaviour here may be a bit OOC, but that's cause he's young here, and a bit quite immature but most of all.. he's a prankster.

Since not much is said about Iruka's past, so I've decided to make it up as I go while having fun at the same time.

I kinda like this mischevious Iruka, how about you all? XD

Anyway, reviews are always appreciated, and again, this fic is dedicated to all you Iruka authors and artists out there!! We need more of the dolphin luff!

Now, on with the fic!

Midnight Confessions  
  
Chapter 7b  
  
---  
  
"Hurry up, Mizuki! He's catching up with us!" Hopping semi- gracefully over random people, animals and merchant stands, a young boy of 16 joyfully made his way down the summer-baked, paved roads of Konoha. Allowing his hitai-ate to slip down his slightly charred features and rest comfortably on his neck, the young boy, known disreputably through the village as Umino Iruka, laughed gleefully, his mischievous, brown eyes blazed with excitement over their latest antics.  
  
Trailing behind the notorious prankster was Iruka's best friend, teammate, and partner-in-crime, Mizuki. Similar to Iruka, the silver- haired boy's features were littered with burn-marks, smoke, and ash... all reminiscent of a prank gone awry.  
  
"I swear, Iruka! If Ebisu doesn't kill you for this, I'll gladly finish the job!" This only caused the scarred genin to laugh even harder at the situation. Turning his head back he gave a smirk to his companion.  
  
"What? Mr. Elite-wannabe? Old four-eyes couldn't catch me if he had me tied to him with a five-foot rope! He's just so high-and-mighty right now because he's already a chuunin. Just you see, Mizu-kun! I'll make him eat his words! This year I'll become a chuunin and then I'll show him who's the 'top ninja' heeaaaAAACK...!"  
  
Having been unaware of his surroundings, Iruka found himself tumbling harshly against the paved streets, twirling in circles as his momentum carried him to impact relentlessly against one of the buildings. Apparently he had tripped over something, or someone. After suffering a few moments of vertigo, Iruka finally managed to push himself away from his vertical landing and collapsed onto the ground away from the wall. Shaking his head to clear away the slight ringing in his ears, Iruka looked up to see if anyone else had been harmed in his careless blunder.  
  
"Is everyone okay?" Wearily Iruka glanced about to search for any more casualties. Inwardly, Iruka didn't care in the slightest if he got hurt, it was all part of being a ninja... he just knew he couldn't live with the guilt if he indirectly harmed any innocent bystanders due to his carelessness. His eyes first trailed towards Mizuki and the brown-haired genin couldn't help but blink in confusion at the expression on the silver- haired boy's face. The usual soft, serene expression was twisted horribly to one of chilling disgust. Mizuki couldn't have been THAT angry with him, could he? No, his friend wasn't directing that horrible stare at him. Following Mizuki's glare, Iruka was able to get a clue to what had caused him to stumble.  
  
Haphazardly sprawled against one of the booths sat a child, no older than three, or four years old at the most. The boy was a ragged and pathetic looking thing if Iruka ever saw one. He wore some plain, oversized and overly frayed clothing that were draped over his small lithe form. The spiky blonde hair was dark with caked mud and now dripped with fruit that had unfortunately landed on the kid's head. The only things clear and bright about the kid were his sparkling cerulean eyes, which were now wide with fear and apprehension.  
  
Quickly dusting himself off, and ignoring the scrapes and the newly forming bruises on his limbs, Iruka jumped to his feet and made his way to Mizuki.  
  
"Hey... what's going on?" The boy in question did not remove his cold glare from the scene, which was now escalating into chaos as the owner of the fruit stand began to yell mercilessly at the blond child.  
  
"It's him...." Iruka couldn't help but wince at his friend's tone, those two words were dripped with such venom, contradicting to Mizuki's gentle face. Turning back to the developing chaos, Iruka was finally able to observe the situation in its entirety.  
  
In his recklessness, he probably tripped over the young boy, causing the kid to stumble back and crash against the fruit-stand, causing some of the merchant's wares to fall and spoil onto the ground. Iruka was about to step up and apologize for the situation when something about the boy caught his eye. What he had previously categorized as perhaps being dirt-marks earlier, Iruka could now distinguish them as whiskers protruding from the boy's cheeks.  
  
Whiskers...? The Kyuubi!  
  
Iruka felt his insides grow cold with dread upon looking at the cursed boy and a brief flash of anger ran down his spine causing him to stiffen slightly. Just as the dark feeling had had come, however, it was then soon drenched with a heavy blanket of sadness and grief, leaving the boy feeling tired and yet slightly bitter. Biting his lip, Iruka now knew why Mizuki had directed so much loathing towards the scene... that... monster was there! Couldn't it just have done the village a favor and go away! No one needed a constant reminder of that horrible day a few years back.  
  
Iruka was about to turn away from the scene, to escape the source of his nightmares, when the merchant's voice rang sharply in his ears, halting the older boy in his tracks.  
  
"You damn brat! Now you asked for it! It's high time someone beat some common sense into you."  
  
Despite the hate, despite the anger Iruka turned, shocked at the big blurry man. The oversized, hairy vender was now wielding a bamboo practice- sword, one that had been used to ward off potential shoplifters, and swung it over his head, ready to swing down at the young child.  
  
Looking up, Iruka saw the owner of the fruit stand swing down the shinai, only to miss the boy as the child hastily dodged to the side. The boy was quick and had pretty good reflexes, the genin idly mused. In fact, the little kid seemed to grin widely as he himself had observed that he had the upper hand over the slower and fatter old man. Using it to his advantage, the boy laughed merrily as he nimbly dodged the bamboo stick, protruding out his tongue and giving out taunts at the frustrated old man as each swing was met with disappointment.  
  
Of course, the boy's arrogance proved to be his downfall as the child did not notice a glop of crushed tomato under his foot until it was too late. The kid comically fell back, which caused him to slam his back harshly onto the pavement. Iruka had to wince at the sound of impact, knowing that the child's breath had been knocked out of him at the very least. The vendor, however, seemed pleased at this sudden turn of events and grinned wickedly at the small, dazed child.  
  
"Hah! Let's see you dodge this!" The vendor gripped tightly at the handle of the shinai and held the training weapon over his shoulder like a baseball bat, intent to swing at the kid, who was now trying to scramble away. Just one swing at the boy, just to teach the young brat a lesson: never mess with his elders. And to set an example to all the shoplifters and troublemakers out there, it was the perfect opportunity.  
  
The old man paused slightly and grinned as he began to fantasize over the results of his "heroic deeds". He could just see it now! He was standing victoriously over a cross-eyed chibi of the young child. The punks of the town would come to grovel at his feet, begging for forgiveness for their wicked ways. Soon, the rest of the merchant community would praise him! Heck, even the Hokage himself would thank him! People, from surrounding villages, would travel just to buy the wares of the man responsible for cleaning up this town.  
  
"Um... excuse me?"  
  
SMACK!  
  
Iruka could almost say that he didn't know what hit him, but he wasn't a genin for nothing! The question was... why? He had been watching, slightly with amusement, the previous scene between the old man and the kid. After a while, however, he felt that enough was enough and decided to intervene, especially since this had been his fault to start with. When the old man had paused in his actions, Iruka felt that was the best time to approach to redeem the situation. However, just as he tapped the larger man on the shoulder, to get the vendor's attention, he was "tapped" back in the face with the bamboo stick, the force sending him staggering back a few feet.  
  
Looking up, he was met with three pairs of wide-eyes staring back at him; Mizuki's, the kid's and the vendor's. He was about to ask what had just happened when he had to instantly quell the sudden urge to vomit. Something foul and metallic was beginning to fill his mouth; blood. Spitting out the coppery substance, Iruka then brought his hand up to wipe away the remaining substance from his lips... then winced at the action. So that had been where the stuff was coming from, he had split his lip. Humorously, Iruka was glad that he didn't loose a tooth or anything. How could he intimidate his enemy, much less get a date if he lost any of his front teeth?  
  
Shaking his head out of that ridiculous notion, Iruka then turned back to give a fierce, serious glare at the vendor. Inwardly, Iruka did not know who he was more furious at. Was he furious at the vendor who attacked for no particular reason? Or, was he furious at himself? The vendor did not have any training that Iruka knew of. The way he held and swung the weapon was proof of that. Yet, this untrained, unfit, pigheaded idiot managed to catch him, Umino Iruka, aspiring chuunin and number-one prankster in all of Konoha, by surprise?  
  
"That's it..." With an evil gleam entering his eyes, thoughts of revenge already forming and refining within the young teen's mind, Iruka spat out the last dredges of blood-mixed saliva and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "... No more Mr. Nice-guy."  
  
To those who knew him in the present time, they would claim that Umino Iruka, the Academy chuunin teacher, was a patient and forgiving man. However, that had not always been the case, especially for those who really knew him. In fact, there had only been a few times in this calm, logical and reasonable man's life when he allowed his immaturity and his quick temper to take over and damn the consequences.  
  
This was one of those times.  
  
Using everyone's shock to obtain the time he needed to fulfill his vengeance, Iruka reached out and grabbed the surprised kyuubi by the arm, yanking the boy to collide to the teen's chest. As he wrapped his arms around the confused boy, he harshly whispered into the younger one's ear with a threatening tone.  
  
"Play along, and whatever you do... stay quiet and stay hidden, got it?"  
  
Not waiting for a response, Iruka looked up to observe as the merchant stood rigid in confusion. Pleased that he wasn't getting any protests yet, he turned to look at his friend Mizuki, who had looked at him with an expression of curiosity but mostly with a severe look of utter dread. Giving a mischievous grin to his partner-in-crime, Iruka then took in a deep breath, preparing his lungs for what he was about to do next.  
  
"PERVERT!"  
  
Oh yeah... that got everyone's attention. With his smirk hidden within the dirty (literally) blond hair, Iruka continued his theatrical display. Twisting his expression to one of agony, the brown-haired genin convincingly wailed to his growing audience of passer-biers as he pressed the boy's face lightly against his cream-colored shirt to hide the child's identity.  
  
"That bastard! How dare he do such a thing? Don't worry kid, I won't let that bad man touch you anymore, I swear it on my headband, I won't allow those fat, dirty fingers shame you anymore!"  
  
One of the lessons on being a ninja was to "know your surroundings." If one was current with the behavior of the people within the village, one would have known that about this time was when most of the patrons of the village, whether they be single men or women, mothers, fathers, or elderly folk, the majority of them had now perhaps ventured out of their homes to buy food and supplies to take back to their homes and prepare for their nightly dinners.  
  
With that in mind, it wasn't surprising that instantly, just as Iruka finished his words, a growing group of angry and highly offended villagers had gathered threateningly around the flustered and now protesting vendor. Using it to his advantage, Iruka stealthily sneaked away from the oncoming melee, tapped the shocked Mizuki away from his blank state, and then dragged both silver-haired and blond-haired boys towards the outskirts of the village.  
  
---  
  
A snort from the jounin had caused Iruka to pause in his narration. With a half-lidded glare, the chuunin could only flush as the other man had lowered his head slightly, his shoulders shaking in mirth from the teacher's antics of old.  
  
"Are you done?" Iruka snapped, not appreciating the teasing that came from the older man. Kakashi, in turn simply held a hand up then stood up straight, his eye still shining in amused merriment.  
  
"I'm fine, go on! What happened next? I suppose Mizuki wasn't happy about the whole thing."  
  
Iruka looked down and allowed a small, reminiscing smile to grace his lips.  
  
"No... In fact, he was downright livid."  
  
---  
  
"Of all the idiotical, absurd, foolish... down-right STUPID things to do, you had to do THAT?"  
  
"Aww, you're just sore you didn't come up with it first." Iruka teased his friend, laughing in the memory of what would be recorded as his greatest prank yet.  
  
"That's not the point! That's not even near the point I want to make. The point is you wasted all that just to help... Arrrgh!" Mizuki twirled to his side, speechless with aggravation, and glared down at the blond child, who merely cringed back from his anger.  
  
Stepping between the two, Iruka gave an apologetic smile towards his best friend and comrade.  
  
"C'mon, Mizu-kun. It was my fault he was involved in the first place. What else could I do?" Iruka stepped forward to place a reassuring hand over his teammate's shoulder, only to have the tanned hand slapped forcefully away. Shocked, the brown-haired genin blinked questionably at the paled haired ninja.  
  
"You could've just let him get what he deserved, that's what!"  
  
With his lips twisted in a scowl, Iruka folded his arms before him; his stance was both defensive and offensive towards his stubborn associate.  
  
"Deserved what? I couldn't just let the kid get blamed for something I did. You know it too! It doesn't matter who it is, I won't let anyone take the blame for my actions!" Both teens glared at each other, challenging each other with the stubborn force of their eyes, neither one relenting to the other. The quiet, harsh gazes continued for a few more moments before Mizuki turned away sharply.  
  
"Maybe that fall knocked a few screws loose in you, but I can't deal with you right now, Iruka! You're supposed to be the intelligent one of the group. I just hope you come to your senses before our exam."  
  
With that said the silver-haired genin hopped quickly to the nearest tree branch and vanished deep into the forest. Iruka, being the polite friend that he was, had smiled and waved a farewell with the back of his middle finger towards the retreating ninja.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
Twirling around in surprise, Iruka stared, wide-eyed, at the young being before him. Had the kyuubi just... apologized? Were demons capable of feeling remorse?  
  
"Ah... Huh?"  
  
"I'm sorry." The boy repeated, confirming Iruka's sense of hearing. "He's angry cause of me, huh?" Iruka couldn't help but wince from the large blue eyes that looked sorrowfully at the elder boy. For a moment he just stared blankly at the small child, wondering how something so evil could look so... so endearing. Shaking his head to clear his mind, the brown-haired teen decided to put these matters aside for now and deal first and foremost of trying to cheer the kid up.  
  
"Mizuki? Nah, he's just sometimes naturally a bastard, other times he's a really great guy. Don't worry about him, he'll get over it." Seeing as his words had little effect, Iruka fidgeted slightly. Just how exactly did one deal with kids? Especially when this one was a "little demon" himself... literally! There were some things that he wished they'd teach you at the academy. Sighing in defeat, Iruka looked down again at the small boy and tried to show a disarming smile to the kid.  
  
"So, where do you live? It's getting kinda late; your folks must be worried sick about you."  
  
"Folks?" Iruka gave a heavy sigh at the clueless child before him.  
  
"You know... your guardians? The people who take care of you?" If anything, the boy's saddened expression dropped lower, causing Iruka to pause in his breathing from the heart-wrenching image it produced.  
  
"I don't... have any."  
  
An orphan... Inwardly, Iruka thought it was a fitting punishment to have the kyuubi, the demon that had taken away his own parents, live his life now as an orphan... yet somehow... even he didn't believe his own words. Shifting uncomfortably on his feet, Iruka glanced down at the pitiful child and sighed. No... no child deserved the pain of being an orphan, even if it was someone he deeply loathed.  
  
Stuffing his hands deeply into his pockets, Iruka sighed again. Boy, children were a hassle to deal with. Fingering the coins in his pocket, Iruka grumbled lightly to himself. He just couldn't stand to see the boy look so sad... it just reminded him too much of... well... himself. Smiles were much easier to deal with. Sadness reminded Iruka too much of his own problems, and the genin didn't want to deal with those emotions; much less anyone else's who mirrored his own. That had been one of the reasons why he turned to pranks and jokes. It distracted the people away from their pitying looks. Those, in Iruka's opinion, were worse than any other scolding, teasing or any other derogative emotion Iruka had faced.  
  
Opening his mouth, he was about to ask the young child a question when a loud rumbling surrounded the two. Startled, both had jumped slightly at the duel set of growls. Blinking slightly, both looked around, wondering where the noise could have come from when another growl was heard, this time in the direction of the blond boy... the sound was immediately followed by a growl coming from the pony-tailed genin. Realizing this, both boys blushed as they realized that they were the reason for the intimidating sound.  
  
"Heh... I suppose all that running around made me a bit hungry." Iruka had given a nervous chuckle, trying to break the developing tension between the two. The young boy simply sighed and turned around to head back towards the village with his head drooped low.  
  
Sighing loudly, Iruka shook his head at the sight. Kyuubi or not, as he stated before, he was just a kid.  
  
"Hey kid.... Ever have ramen? I don't like eating by myself, and since Mizu-kun's being a jackass out there somewhere... not that the idiot likes the stuff. Sometimes I wonder how he became my best friend. Anyway, well, I was wondering if you'd like to join me for a bowl."  
  
Giving a confused glance over his small bony shoulder, the blond boy was graced with an impish grin, given to him by the brown-haired genin.  
  
"Uh... what's ramen?"  
  
If anything, Iruka felt he was going to just croak at that statement. Forget about what he said about not wishing anyone was born an orphan... that was tolerable; but to never know the existence of ramen? It was blasphemy in the elder-boy's ears!  
  
"Why, it's just the best food in the whole world, that's what! I can't believe you don't know about ramen! What is this world coming to?" Pounding his fist onto an open palm, Iruka brightened from his melodramatic spiel. "That's it! Hey kid, what do they call you?"  
  
"Uh... teme? Kisama?" Iruka twitched his left eye. Those weren't names, but rather they were derogatory associations.  
  
"Nah, kid... I mean, do you have a name? For example, my name's Umino Iruka."  
  
"Oh, Uzumaki Naruto."  
  
"Naruto? Hah! With a name like that, I can guarantee that you'll love the stuff! Well, from now on, Naruto-kun... you are to address me as Iruka- sensei! I'm going to teach ya all there is to know about ramen! How does that sound?"  
  
The boy, in question, responded by tilting his head low and staring up at the elder ninja before him, a questioning look on his face.  
  
"You don't look like a 'sensei.' Aren't sensei's supposed to be smarter-looking?" The blond boy gave a toothy grin at the now twitching genin. Something within the boy told him he could learn to like this grown- up. It wasn't because he had saved him earlier, but something within the older boy's eyes made the toddler want to trust the teen.  
  
Naruto never had a friend before, so he didn't know how to act to this new situation... but from the way he had seen from Iruka "sensei" and the other kid act, he supposed that name calling was acceptable? At least, that's what he understood.  
  
"You little brat!"  
  
Naruto flinched then took a step back as he heard those words. Instantly, flashes of angry faces swarmed his head, repeating those same words to him. Now he had done it! Because of his idiocy, he probably ruined whatever chance he had with making friends with the older boy. How was he supposed to know that wasn't a good thing to say?  
  
Wincing, the small boy curled and clenched his eyes as he saw the other approach him threateningly... only instead of being hit as others had done to him countless times, he found himself having his hair ruffled playfully. Looking up, he blinked at the older boy and then furrowed his blond brows in confusion as the older boy chuckled down at him.  
  
"C'mon. Just this once, it's my treat, okay?"  
  
Turning about, Iruka began to slowly make his way back towards the village. Naruto, however, stood still in slight shock. No one had ever been so nice to him. Suddenly, Naruto felt his eyes burning slightly, tears forming slowly over his lids, blurring his vision temporary. He didn't know why he was crying. He wasn't hit, he wasn't hurt... but these tears were a mystery to him. Shaking his head, the boy brought his fist up to harshly wipe away the offending drops. He didn't want the other to see him as a crybaby.  
  
"Hey! Are you just going to stand there all day? The ramen's getting cold!" Naruto smiled at the older boy, this new person who had showed him kindness... this new person who would now become his first friend. Grinning back at the older boy, Naruto leapt from his spot and ran up to catch up with the other, not wanting to let the other out of his sight.

---

Author notes-  
  
Mizuki, at the beginning of the Naruto storyline, was 27, Iruka was 25, however Iruka's birthday as in May while Mizuki's was in October, and thus was why Mizuki could be 16 during the time of the flashback. I'm imagining this scene to take place sometime in the summer. ((Thanks to ePuiChi for reminding me! I had forgotten to add this in to the previous chapter.))  
  
And yes... Mizuki did indeed hate Ramen... uu;;  
  
According to the NCDB, Iruka had graduated as a chuunin at the age of 16. The only person who also graduated around this age was Ebisu, (who, only being 3 years older than Iruka, graduated at the age of 17).  
  
I thought it would be humorous to have Ebisu as Iruka's childhood "rival" since both ranked highly in the "intelligence" level for their ninja abilities. Plus, it is noted that Iruka has done more A-class missions (11) than Ebisu (1).  
  
Other compairing factors include the following:  
  
Ebisu has Iruka beat in Seal knowledge, genjutsu and ninjitsu.... They are both almost equal in taijutsu and intellegence ... Iruka kicks Ebisu in speed, force and chakara amount (stamina).

Iruka's mission report: D=285, C=177, B=73, A=11, S=0  
  
Ebisu's mission report: D=98, C=284, B=115, A=1, S=0

Keep in mind that Iruka's just a chuunin while Ebisu's a specialized jounin.  
  
As to what was the prank that Iruka and Mizuki played on Ebisu? Well, you'll just have to use your imagination. XD


	10. 7c Midnight Conclusions

I'm so sorry about the 2 month haitus... I have my reasons, but just believe me when I say i've had a hellish time.

Bah....

I tried looking up that site I went for my info, but it seems to be down. For those interested in learning about the NCDB, you can always google it under "Naruto Character Data Book" and get some translations of the stuff, even where to buy it. Sorry I can't be any more help.

Anyway, here it is... the conclusion.. the final chapter of my fic. Yay for me! Other than one-shots, this will be my first COMPLETED story! Wheee!!

I want to thank Yanslana-chan, who was my potato peeler throughout the fic! ;

Again! I would like to thank everyone who had stuck with this fic for so long. Extra huggles and stuffs to my reviewers who have motivated me to continue. I would also like to dedicate this story to all those authors out there who wrote their stories centered on Iruka! You guys are my inspiration, my idols, and my reasons for procrastinating too much! XD

Now, without further adeu...

Midnight Confessions

Chapter 7c

* * *

It was peaceful, now that Iruka thought about it, but perhaps this spot wasn't so random after all. Just a little far off ahead he could hear the sounds of the river, but the spot Kakashi had chosen was just far enough that they weren't swarmed by mosquitoes that seemed to possess the area. The clearing above gave the viewer a star-studded view of the heavens, taunting the observer with its near-like appearance only to just jump back slightly out of reach should a hand try to touch the sparkling diamonds.

For the first time in weeks, Iruka was actually feeling at ease with himself, despite the company he was keeping. With a smile still plastered on his face, he shook his head away from that rude thought and turned back to his silver-haired audience.

"I suppose it was after graduating as a chuunin, that I sort of slowly began to change from being the wild prankster to the boring responsible adult you see today. I loath to admit that I didn't follow up with Naruto's growing up, as much as I would have liked... sometimes my missions kept me occupied that it would be weeks before I returned back home. I tried, however, to have a bowl with Naruto whenever I could."

Iruka let out a slight sigh of content. Thinking of that memory had always managed to cheer him up somewhat. Inwardly, Iruka began to wonder over Naruto's viewpoint of their first meeting. For all Iruka knew, Naruto knew nothing of Iruka's prankster childhood. Of course, he could be mistaken and Naruto was simply feigning ignorance on the whole thing, just waiting to use it for blackmail material or something. Here, the chuunin chuckled slightly of the different possibilities.

"So, just by meeting him once you changed overnight from dreading the boy to introducing the kid to the wonderful world of ramen. That's quite an accomplishment there, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka blinked at the jounin and brought a hand up to rub at the nape of his own neck, turning his head aside to hide the sudden tinting of his cheeks. If only it HAD been that easy. "Well... not exactly."

Kakashi seemingly perked up at these words and clasped his gloved hands together in exuberance. "Oh! There's more to this story?"

Raising a brow and pondering slightly if the Jounin's joy was sardonic or sincere, Iruka took a deep breath and nodded in response to the other's question, his appearance having dropped its earlier placid expression.

"You see, after dinner and returning the boy back to his apartment, I started thinking about my newly acquired situation. After all, I had just 'dinned with the demon', so to speak. What confused me, however, was that I no longer felt any contempt towards the boy, but yet at the same time I wanted to feel the familiar hatred I had for him. It wasn't for the familiarity, but rather I thought I would be dishonoring the memory of my parents if I befriended their murderer.

"I was confused out of my wit's end, but I couldn't really talk about this with Mizuki, or any other of my classmates. I then decided to go to home, but not to my apartment, nor the old Umino home." Iruka paused in his narration to chuckle lightly here. "It's just that I've hung about that place so much that I soon considered it to be like another home; Sandaime's office."

Sarutobi, also known as the Sandaime, was the third and the current active Hokage of the Konoha village. Here was a man who had once been thought to have retired from the title. However, with the death of his successor, the Yondaime, he had once again returned back into his position. Still, despite his know-how, this old and experienced man had taken a moment to pause quizzically over his towering amount of paperwork to observe quietly as a young shinobi stealthily snuck into the prestigious one's office. Tapping his pen over his mouth, the knowledgeable ninja couldn't help but smile at display. Barely a genin, yet this boy had been able to slip quietly into the room with as much skill to go by undetected by even the most experienced of chuunin. He always knew Iruka had potential, now if only the boy would cut down on his pranks.

Going back to his paperwork, the Sandaime patiently waited for the teen to burst out in his usual loud and brash greeting. When none came, the old man then glanced briefly at the door, anticipating a burst of angry grown-ups, wanting their leader to turn over the teen for punishment after another prank. As the minutes flew by, however, only an uncomfortable silence remained within the room. Well, the old man had thought, he didn't live this long without learning how to be patient, so he decided to wait a bit longer.

Fifteen minutes had soon passed and all that had changed was that the amount of paperwork had decreased, however the young genin was still crouched by the windowsill, staring blankly into space as if in deep thought. Allowing curiosity to get the better of him, the head of the Leaf Village gently placed down his pen and folded his hands under his chin to prop his tired head up.

"Now here's a first," the wizened man teased. "I never thought I'd see the day I would have a quiet and civilized moment without any interruptions. Now, as much as I enjoy your company, don't you believe that it is rather late for you to be visiting? Then again, I know you hardly do anything without a reason. What seems to be troubling you, Iruka-kun?"

Blinking away from his blank stupor, Iruka turned towards the only grown up within the village that he had a sense of rapport to and opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. With a heavy sigh the young boy looked away from the elder and shook his head.

"I...I just don't know, sir."

The Sandaime simply raised his brow at the serious and humbled tone coming from the once wild and prideful boy. Only giving a slight nod to the young genin to show that he had been paying attention to the conversation, the Hokage stayed silent, patiently waiting for the boy to continue.

"I met him today..."

"Him?" The older man questioned, partly to clarify and partly to have the boy continue talking.

"Yes," Iruka responded. "_Him!_" The tone had been said with such resentment, and such force that it wasn't hard to deduce whom the young teen was talking about.

"Ah... I see."

Those words seemed to have broken the dam, for at that moment the young genin leapt to his feet and began to pace around, his face mixed with both confusion and frustration.

"I just don't get it! I know you told me before that he's 'not the demon' and that you made us all swear never to tell that to any of the younger generation, but I still can't forgive what that thing inside him did! I want to hate him... I should hate him... because by hating him, I'll hate the demon as well, right? They're both the same being!"

The Sandaime heaved a tired sigh of his own at these words. Countless times before have parents and other adults in the village come to his office stating the same. Each one projecting the anger of losing their loved one onto the poor boy, and each time the old man had tried to convince them otherwise, however they had stayed stubborn to the end. Now it would look as if Iruka would be following in their footsteps as well.

"I want to hate him..." A subdued voice stated, interrupting the older man from his thoughts. "But after meeting with the kid... I just couldn't. In that kid's eyes, I didn't see one trace of the kyuubi, nor did I feel anything that I felt that one night... you know? Plus he just looked so... sad. Well, then again, I would be too if I never knew what ramen was." Here, the teen chuckled lightly only to sigh afterwards and look at the elder. "I'm just very confused right now, Hokage-sama."

The Sandaime's only response was a simple nod in acknowledgment. The aged leader allowed silence to reign upon the room for a few moments before sliding his chair away from his desk, creating a light sound as the chair scratched against the wooden floor.

"I'm going to get something to drink, would you like to accompany me, Iruka-kun?"

The boy, in question, raised a brow and gaped in silent fury at the change of subject. Hadn't the Hokage listened to a word he said? For a moment, Iruka had begun to believe that he had just wasted all that time for nothing. In fact, he was about to shout out in protest towards the elder, but suddenly, he just felt very tired. With a dejected sigh, the teen simply nodded to the older man and dragged his feet as he followed listlessly out towards the break room.

Plopping down on one of the folding chairs, Iruka observed quietly as the Hokage busied himself with pulling out items from one of the cupboards. He watched as the old man pulled out two cups, a small container, some spoons and a carton of milk. One of the cups that were pulled out of the cupboard was a simple blue mug, decorated with a cartoon drawing of a dolphin and a bright yellow sun in the background. It was one of Iruka's favorite possessions since it had been a gift from the Hokage himself a few years back.

"Iruka-kun, I want to show you something. Now pay attention. Let's pretend that this cup is Naruto." The old man held up Iruka's favorite cup before him and set it on the table. The teen simply furrowed his brows in confusion, but did not interrupt. "Now, let's say that the milk is the Kyuubi's soul."

It was then at this point where Iruka groaned loudly in protest, twisting his face in slight disgust. He wasn't a huge fan of milk. There was just something about the flavor that threw the boy off. The Hokage only grinned at the boy's affronted state, but continued in his demonstration.

"Now, I am going to pour the milk into the cup. Tell me, Iruka-kun... do you still hate the milk despite the fact it is now in your favorite cup, or do you now hate the cup since it now holds a bit of milk?"

Iruka pouted. He had been highly disturbed that the sanctity of his favorite cup had been spoiled by the evilness of milk. Taking in a deep breath, he calmly looked towards the elder.

"I still don't really care much for the milk. Anyway, I could just drain the stuff out and wash the cup afterwards, right?"

"I suppose your right. However, let's make this a bit more difficult. I know you enjoy the occasional strawberry, so let's say that this..." The Hokage paused to scoop out a small, pink and powdery mountain from the container. Pouring the contents into the mug, the elder began to slowly stir the inside of the cup slowly with the spoon. "... this will represent Naruto's soul, his personality, his very self. The two will, over time, mix together, until ultimately you will have... well... strawberry milk. Now tell me, Iruka-kun. Do you still hate the contents of this cup?"

"That's hardly fair, Hokage-sama..." Iruka sighed, allowing his shoulders and head to drop down in slight disgruntlement; however that expression was short lived as the boy perked his head up and gave the old man a smile. "But, I think I know what you're trying to get at here. Anyway, I should be going... sensei's been trying to overwork us to get ready for the exams. I'll think about what you said. G'night, old man!"

With a chuckle and a swift slam of the door, the cheeky genin had escaped the irritated look of his Hokage. When all presence of the genin had disappeared, the Hokage smiled to himself and shook his head.

"With the spirit of fire in today's youth, I suppose one must expect a bit of hot-headedness to occur." Shutting off the lights, the leader of the village exited the room and smiled as he made his way home, ready for a peaceful night's rest.

Staring back up into the star-littered sky, Iruka couldn't stop the light blush of embarrassment from his actions as a teen. To think he was that brash when he was younger. It almost seemed like a different person sometimes. However, despite the humiliation he gained by remembering them, they were still all part of several fond memories in which he treasured deeply with all his heart. He had never told of this encounter to anyone, not even to Mizuki. Yet, perhaps it was due to his other "talks" with the one-eyed jounin that Iruka had felt comfortable reminiscing with the older man. No longer did the dark-haired chuunin feel resentment towards Kakashi for his similarity to Mizuki, in fact, now he was beginning to feel a bit foolish for even thinking such absurd thoughts.

However, despite the painful and traitorous actions directed towards him, Iruka had to admit that Mizuki would always, and forever, hold a special place in Iruka's heart, no matter what had been said. This had been one of the reasons why he felt compelled to add that kunai to his collection. Iruka did not want to believe he was heartless enough to just dismiss the other's existence for a single mistake, even if it was him who was hurt the most in the end. Mizuki meant a lot to Iruka growing up and inwardly he just hoped that wherever Mizuki was now, he would find it in his heart to reconcile, and let go of his misguided anger towards Naruto, just as he had so many years ago.

A small smile began to form on the chuunin's face slowly, as he gradually began to realize that the silver-haired jounin was worming himself into his own special place as well... whether the other man knew it or not. Iruka never did understand why the jounin instructor had taken an interest in him. Perhaps it was, as the jounin had explained earlier, all due to the brief but somehow meaningful connection between his father and the masked jounin. Iruka, on the other hand, did not want to believe that all this effort was due to something as brusque as that. This was Kakashi after all! Then again... maybe the reason was that simple... again, this was Kakashi after all.

Shaking his head out of that confusion, Iruka simply smiled pleasantly to himself. Whatever the reason may have been, he was just glad to have had kept company with the older man, even if the other would never direct another word to the chuunin teacher in the future. Whatever the outcome, Iruka thought that a "thank you, at least, for pretending to listen" was in order. It was the polite thing to do.

Tilting his head back down to ground level, but coyly avoiding eye-contact, Iruka began to direct a smile at his fellow comrade when a slight rustling of paper grabbed his attention. Turning towards the source, the chuunin glimpsed to see that the same silver-haired jounin, whom Iruka had been complimenting all in his head, was now in the process of being deeply involved in a novel!

A twitch formed in the teacher's left eye.

Feeling the glare upon his person, Kakashi lowered the book away from his face and allowed his eye to curve in slight amusement.

"Oh! Finished? Uh, yeah...Great story, sensei." The jounin nodded, affirming to himself what he had just said. The jounin was about to return to his book when a sharp cold chill ran down his spine, pausing the man in his actions. It was then that Kakashi was repeatedly grateful for his quick reflexes, for just as he had leapt away to avoid the sense of danger that bombarded the silver-haired's mind, several kunai had embedded themselves instantly onto the tree and grass where the jounin once sat.

Looking up to observe his attacker, Kakashi could only gulp audibly as he could practically see the killing intent surrounding the once amiable teacher. Armed with as much disposable sharp objects handy, Iruka glared furiously at the older man, deep brown eyes practically livid with molten anger.

With a flash of fury in the Chuunin's eyes as Kakashi's only warning, the Jounin nimbly leaped up to the lowest branch of the tree behind him to dodge the spinning weapons flung at him, only to feel a light brush against his arms. Looking down, Kakashi smirked to himself as he noticed the fabric of his sleeves was sliced in several locations.

"You missed."

Kakashi's hidden smirk grew wider as he noticed the other respond with a narrowing of his eyes and a quick leap to a nearby branch, only to then disappear behind the trunk of a neighboring tree.

"Would it be too late to ask if we could just talk this out, sensei?" Receiving only silence as his answer, Kakashi let out a mock sigh before allowing himself to chuckle lightly under his breath. He had to admit that Iruka's shuriken had come damn close earlier. Who would have thought that a mere book-pushing chuunin would have the skill to come close to graze a Jounin of his status? Jokingly, Kakashi imagined a chibi-esque deformed version of the chuunin sensei dodging papers being flung at him, and yelling out "Papercut no jutsu" leaving shredding and confetti at his wake.

Feeling a familiar presence emerge to his left, Kakashi halted the foolish imagery and turned to face the furious teacher. Not a word was uttered as the brown-haired man pulled several kunai from his pouch and clenched the weapons tightly between his fingers. Kakashi's response to the dramatic moment was a casual shrug to his shoulders and a slight tensing of muscles. As much fun as he was having with the brown-haired man at the moment, Kakashi supposed he may as well take the chuunin seriously if he wanted to get this over with. That and the fact that he wanted to teach his little kohei to respect his sempai and not ruin his perfectly good shirts in the future. Kakashi had better things to spend his money on than new shirts... like the latest volumes of Icha Icha Paradise.

Leaping forward to an adjacent branch, Iruka used the momentum to help propel a handful of kunai towards Kakashi's direction. The Jounin, practically seeing the attack in slow-motion due to its basic technique, casually shifted to his right side to avoid the shards of sharpened metal. Opening his mouth to give a mock-yawn to the chuunin, Kakashi paused as his sense of danger perked up suddenly. Dodging quickly to the left, the silver-haired ninja could only stare in wide-eyed fascination as a kunai skimmed pass his face rapidly. A reflection of the moonlight on metal announced a second kunai headed towards the Jounin. Rather than dodging the weapon however, Kakashi raised a gloved hand before him and grasped the knife safely by the handle, halting the blade in midair.

"You would think, being a teacher, you'd know it's not good to fight when you're emotional." Kakashi swiftly and silently hopped to the base of the branch, just behind Iruka, a charming expression crinkling the edges of the jounin's eye. Twirling the kunai casually with his forefinger, the silver-haired man tilted his head to the side in an amused pose and then spoke to the glaring man before him with a patronizing tone. "These are not toys you know. Someone may get hurt."

Waiting until the chuunin looked at him directly in the eye, Kakashi winked out a small warning towards the brown-haired man before slamming his arm out to attack the younger man with the same weapon that had been used against the Jounin earlier. However, instead of slicing through empty air, as was anticipated, the sound of flesh being scornfully torn apart was what greeted the Jounin's ears. Looking down, Kakashi could only stare in sick fascination, as if the entire action was coated in thick molasses, the extending blade as it slowly drove deep into the chuunin's body, colliding and cracking against hard bone on its journey.

Kakashi wanted to scream out that he was supposed to dodge. Stupid chuunin! He was SUPPOSED to dodge! However, when the silver-haired man opened his mouth, the sound of a sharp intake of breath was all that was heard. The tightening of his throat prevented his harsh words from escaping and not even as the spurt of blood, that erupted from the freshly open wound, woke the shocked man from his trance. Kakashi could feel the flesh and bone of the wounded man scrape against the kunai as the younger man began to slip backwards, losing to the battle against gravity. Dazed brown eyes rolled back as loosened hair framed tan cheeks. Descending almost gracefully as a plucked feather, the body slowly and noiselessly flowed down to the ground, allowing the plush grass to comfort the hollow and now lifeless body...

...Only to have the corpse explode in a puff of white smoke, leaving a vest-clad log at its wake.

"Kawarimi no jutsu!"

Realizing he had been deceived with a simple substitution technique, Kakashi growled and barely managed to spin halfway behind him when a dark figure collided against the jounin, knocking the elite ninja off the branch. Quickly regaining his wits, Kakashi rolled with the fall, minimizing the impact that had been waiting below. Grasping his attacker tightly by the shirt, the two forms continued with their momentum until they had both rolled to a complete stop underneath a star-studded clearing...

...Not that either of them had noticed their surroundings, for, in fault to the force and the momentum, both shinobi now found themselves pressed closely against each other, their faces firmly pushing over another, from their foreheads to their lips. What seemed like an eternity was only a fraction of a second spent in reality before both realized their position. The eyes of both parties widened in surprise and slight embarrassment. Iruka, being the first to snap himself out of the shock, awoke his system back to functional with a belated gasp, however the action only seemed to put the jounin's cloth-covered lips closer to his. Setting his hands firmly on the silver-haired's shoulders, Iruka hastily pushed himself up from his unintended captive, scrambling back and sat there, staring, yet unseeing his masked companion with blank shock as he lifted a hand up to touch his lips tenderly.

With smoother and more calculated moves, Kakashi sat himself up as well, however, unlike the shock-stricken chuunin before him, Kakashi didn't bother bringing a hand up to touch his lips, but rather allowed his mouth to spread widely beneath the thin fabric of his mask. In fact, it was the Jounin's soft chuckle that broke the spell over the chuunin's stupor.

"It's always the quiet ones, isn't it? Who would have thought you were more of the seme type?"

A chill ran down Iruka's back as the chuunin felt his cheeks and his ears burn with embarrassment.

"W... what? No! I didn't mean for it... I mean..." The poor Academy teacher could only droop his head low, one hand covering the shame and embarrassment on his face as he tried to come up with a good excuse to save his dignity.

However, much to the younger man's chagrin, Kakashi was intent to see Iruka's face practically self-combust with the amount of blushing it was currently doing. Taking a quick glance at the red-faced man before him as Kakashi idly played with the ripped fabric on his sleeves, a lightly-amused expression on his face.

"I'm not one to typically take a role as Uke, mind you, but then again, it's not everyday you get a kiss like that. I don't recall them teaching us THAT back when I was in the Academy."

Pausing in his self-pity, Iruka's sat up straight at these words. He felt his cheeks pale, his muscles tense and shiver as another cold chill ran up his spine at these words. However, whether or not the Jounin noticed, he gave no outward indication in the Chuunin's eyes, and continued with his teasing.

"Although you really needn't to be so rough, all you had to do was ask..." Grinning wildly to himself, Kakashi was enjoying himself immensely, watching as a twitch formed in the teacher's left eye. He knew, however, just what needed to be said to make the teasing complete... making the humiliation of being caught off guard worth it.

"...Iru-kun!"

Kakashi couldn't say he didn't deserve it, so it was no surprise as he saw and felt the punch as it connected harshly across his jaw. In fact, he even moved his chin to the momentum to lessen the impact, and yet... despite it all... it still stung like hell! Damn! Just what were in those books? Trying to hold in the wide grin, he allowed himself a slight smirk, not that the other man would notice it beneath the fabric, Kakashi stared at the glowering Chuunin before him in amusement.

"Kakashi-Sensei!" The Chuunin bellowed, "To think that... Of all the things... As if I would... ARGH!! I swear! If you EVER breathe a word about this... I'll... I'll... I'll make sure Naruto makes the rest of the year a living Hell for you! And don't think I won't do it!" Taking in a deep breath, the Chuunin calmed visibly in front of the highly amused jounin, however the silver-haired ninja knew better than to interrupt at this crucial moment and simply cradled his bruising jaw tenderly.

Spinning around on his heels, shoulders raised and tensed with lingering fury, Iruka began to walk back towards the village. However, he had only taken a few steps before he paused in his tracks. Almost as if having an inner conflict to himself, time lingered silently as the Chuunin struggled mentally to make a decision. It had taken a few seconds, but the brown-haired man's shoulders dropped, having now come to a resolution. Tilting his head back to look at the fallen Jounin, Iruka gave a small but genuine smile at the older man.

"Kakashi? Thanks..." Not waiting for a response, Iruka leaped to the nearest branch and ascended towards the thick foliage, disappearing from view completely.

Feeling the Chuunin's presence fade out of range until it disappeared entirely, Kakashi chuckled to himself softly as he stood back up. Dusting himself FREE of resideing pieces of rocks and grass, he reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a small sheet of paper.

A photo.

However, unlike the previous photograph, which he had given to Iruka, this one looked newer and was in better condition, despite the fact that it held the same image as the other one. Glancing down at the copy, Kakashi gave the photo a sincere smile as he stared at the image of his former sensei.

"If there's something you two hold in common, it's your ability to surprise the hell out of me." Nodding to himself and slipping the paper back into the secure confinements of his vest pocket, Kakashi stuffs his hands deep into his pockets and journeyed his way back to the village, a smile hidden within his mask.

* * *

End.


End file.
